Japan to provide four patrol ships to Bangladesh

Japan will provide four patrol ships to Bangladesh as part of its Official Security Assistance (OSA) framework.

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori and Bangladesh Armed Forces Division’s Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman signed the deal and exchanged notes for 575 million yen (US $3.8 million) for the ships in Dhaka yesterday.

Japan established the OSA framework this year for deepening security cooperation with recipient countries.

Bangladesh, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Fiji are the four beneficiary countries of the OSA programme, for which Japan allocated 2 billion yen for the current fiscal year.

“Bangladesh and Japan, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Tokyo, elevated the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership from comprehensive partnership. The new security cooperation is a part of this,” a foreign ministry official said.

Japan’s foreign ministry in a statement said Bangladesh, as a strategic partner of Japan, is located in front of the Bay of Bengal, an important sea lane for Japan.

“It is getting more and more important to improve Bangladesh Navy’s capabilities for monitoring and surveillance, and disaster relief,” it added.

For Japan, transferring equipment to South Asia is a way to counterbalance China’s “string of pearls” strategy to expand influence in the Indian Ocean, according to a report published by Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia.

For Bangladesh, adding Japan to its list of suppliers has become important from its national security perspective to access technologically advanced equipment, the report also read.

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