Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command and three warships of the Indian Navy participated in the maiden International Fleet Review (IFR) hosted by Bangladesh at Cox’s Bazar.
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh reviewed the International Fleet comprising ships from Bangladesh Navy and eight ships from six foreign countries. The three ships represented the Indian Navy are the Guided Missile Destroyer INS Kochi, Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette INS Kavaratti, and Offshore Patrol Vessel Sumedha . The Indian Navy contingent was the largest amongst the participating foreign navies in this IFR. The other five participating ships were from China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and USA.
On the side-lines of the IFR, VAdm B Dasgupta called on Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal, the Chief of Naval Staff of Bangladesh Navy. He also held bilateral interactions with the Chief of Navy of Iran and heads of delegations from Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand and USA.
The IFR complements the celebrations of 50 years of liberation of Bangladesh and the ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ as well as the ‘Maitri Diwas’ celebrated on 06 December every year, marking the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh.
