Indian Army to participate in military drill in B’desh

New Delhi, April 1 : The Indian Army will participate in a military exercise in Bangladesh to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, and 50 years of its Liberation movement.The multi-nation military exercise called Shantir Ogroshena (Frontrunner of Peace) will be held in Bangladesh from April 4 to April 12.

The Royal Bhutan Army and the Sri Lankan Army will also participate in the drill along with the Indian Army.The Indian Army contingent will comprise 30 personnel from the Dogra Regiment, including officers, junior commissioned officers and jawans.

"The theme of the exercise is Robust Peacekeeping Operations, the Defence Ministry said.Military observers from the US, the UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore will also be in attendance throughout the exercise.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Bangladesh and met his counterpart Sheikh Hasina and discussed the progress achieved in areas like connectivity, energy, trade, health and developmental cooperation, among others.The two countries had also signed five MoUs covering a number of areas of bilateral cooperation.

Modi, whose visit to Bangladesh was his first foreign trip since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, held one-on-one talks with Hasina which was followed by a delegation-level meeting that continued for over an hour."Relationship going from strength to strength! Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussed the progress achieved in areas of health, trade, connectivity, energy, developmental cooperation and many more," the spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, had tweeted after the talks.