Commissioning ceremony of two newly purchased warships was held on naval base Isha Khan yesterday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was present as chief guest there. These two warships BNS Abubakkar and BNS Ali Hayder are collected from China.
Prime Minister addressed the naval officers and sailors there and then she visited the ships and weapons with top naval officers.
Bangladesh is a small country in terms of geographic size, but it is facing challenge from its neighbors. Few years ago Burma tried to take control of an area at sea which is claimed by Bangladesh. India sent its naval troops to a disputed island Talpotti more than three decades ago. In this situation Bangladesh is trying to increase the capacity of its own navy. Bay of Bengal has become strategically important because India and China both are trying to ensure their presence.
Bangladesh is trying to ensure that it will be able to extract its natural resource from the Bay of Bengal. India has openly criticized submarine project initiated by Bangladesh. But it seems Bangladesh navy is determined to carry on and ensure rights of the Bangladeshis on Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh navy has build warships in their own shipyard for the first time in history, they have collected maritime patrol helicopters, aircrafts and construction work of a submarine base is already started. Two China made corvettes will also be added to Bangladesh navy next year.
