DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT

Bangladesh and Japan have signed an agreement to accelerate Bangladesh’s defence modernisation through the transfer of equipment and technology.

Principal Staff Officer of Bangladesh’s Armed Forces Division (AFD) Lt Gen SM Kamrul Hasan and Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Saida Shinichi signed the agreement at the AFD headquarters in Dhaka on Tuesday.

“Through this agreement, the strategic partnership and long-standing friendship between the two countries have been elevated to a new height,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Earlier in 2023, Bangladesh and Japan signed a deal and exchanged notes for 575 million yen ($3.8 million) to provide four patrol ships to Bangladesh under Japan’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) framework.

Moving away from its pacifist policy amid global geopolitical shifts, Japan established the OSA framework in 2023 to deepen security cooperation with partner countries, including Bangladesh, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Fiji.

Currently, Bangladesh imports around 70 percent of its weapons from China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Japan’s foreign ministry has said Bangladesh, a strategic partner of Japan, is located in the Bay of Bengal region, an important sea lane for Japan. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to improve the The

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