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Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has advocated closer military cooperation between Nigeria and Bangladesh.
He made this call while receiving the Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Nigeria, Shameem Ahsan, in his office today.
Admiral Ibas stressed that Nigeria valued its relationship with Bangladesh stressing the fact that several Nigerian officers trained in Bangladesh.
He also informed Ahsan of the establishment of the Naval War College Nigeria and the proposed International Maritime Conference to be hosted by the Nigerian Navy next year.
Admiral Ibas, therefore, invited Bangladesh to consider sending their officers to the Naval War College Nigeria in the near future, urging the Bangladeshi CNS to attend the conference.
While stressing the readiness of the Nigerian Armed Forces to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh on military cooperation, Admiral Ibas canvassed more visits and information sharing between the two nations for mutual benefit.
He also stressed the need for international cooperation through the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium for a common approach to containing maritime threats.
Responding, Ahasn underscored the strides Bangladesh has made in peacekeeping operations, agriculture and garment industry, stressing that cooperation between Nigeria and Bangladesh would be mutually beneficial.
Bangladesh has the second-highest foreign-exchange reserves in South Asia (after India), while its diaspora nationals contributed $15.31billion remittances in 2015. Bangladesh’s largest trading partners are the European Union (EU), the United States, Japan, India, Australia, China and ASEAN.
