India to keep a ‘close eye’ on Bangladesh-China military exercises: New Delhi

The armies of Bangladesh and China are going to hold military exercises for the first time. This joint military exercise may be held next May. Meanwhile, India has responded to the upcoming exercise.

The country says New Delhi will keep a ‘close eye’ on Bangladesh-China military exercises. Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India said this.

Earlier, China’s news agency Xinhua and People’s Daily published news on Thursday about possible joint military exercises between Bangladesh and China. It is reported that the exercise is likely to take place in May.

China’s People’s Liberation Army will send a team to Bangladesh in early May to participate in joint training, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday, citing China’s Ministry of National Defense.

The report also said that the two sides will use an integrated training method in this joint training based on the United Nations system in the context of counter-terrorism and peace-building. They will also jointly organize exercises such as rescuing hostages from buses and raiding terrorist camps, Xinhua said.

The exercise will be the first joint training between the Chinese and Bangladeshi armies. The Chinese Ministry of Defense said such activities are conducive to “enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the militaries of the two countries, and deepening exchanges and cooperation.”

In such a situation, Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal faced questions on reports of military exercises between Bangladesh and China during his regular press briefing on Thursday.

He replied: ‘Regarding your questions about joint military exercises (which I would say), you’ve heard me say it several times from this stage: we keep a close eye on everything happening in our neighborhood and beyond. This may affect our interests, economic and security interests. And (subsequently) we take appropriate action accordingly.’

TM