$500M indian loan: Dhaka moves to buy defence equipment five years after deal

Five years after India and Bangladesh signed an agreement of $500 million line of credit (LOC) for defence purchase, Dhaka is moving towards buying defence equipment from the neighbour.

Bangladesh's Armed Forces Division (AFD) is preparing the list of equipment that it wants to import from India, said foreign ministry officials.

"Initially, armoured personnel carriers and large trucks are on the list," an official told The Daily Star.

India-Bangladesh Defence Dialogue will be held today in New Delhi, three days after a technical-level meeting of officials from both the countries. It will finalise the list of equipment and areas of cooperation.

AFD Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman will be leading the Bangladesh delegation at the dialogue.

Earlier on August 4, the issue of buying defence equipment was discussed at an inter-ministerial meeting at the foreign ministry.

The development comes ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India on September 6-7.

In the last several years, top defence officials of Bangladesh and India made reciprocal visits and discussed various aspects of defence cooperation.

During a visit to Bangladesh in December last year, India's then foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Bangladesh would soon import defence-related items from India under the $500 million LOC provided by New Delhi.

At a press briefing in Dhaka on December 16, he said the defence issue was discussed during President Ram Nath Kovind's talks with Bangladesh's top leadership.

During Hasina's visit to New Delhi in April 2017, India committed $500 million LOC for Bangladesh's defence. India provided the LOC in 2019.

On April 11 this year, Export Import Bank of India inked an agreement with Bangladesh's AFD for making available the fund to the latter.