Why are Russian warships in Bangladesh waters?

Three Russian warships have arrived in Bangladesh.

The development comes just days after Bangladesh Army Chief made a trip to Moscow.

The ships – Rezkiy, Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov and Pechenga – arrived at Chittagong Port on Monday.

They will be in Bangladesh for four days.

But what do we know? And what are the ships doing there?

Let’s take a closer look:

What do we know?

As per Economic Times, the ships arrived in Bangladesh less than a week after Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman’s trip to Moscow.

Zaman met both civilian and military leaderships in Moscow.

He also visited arms manufacturing facilities.

They were greeted in Bangladeshi waters by the Bangladesh Navy ship BNS Khalid Bin Walid.

As per Daily Observer, the Russian warships are in Bangladesh on a goodwill visit.

The ships were welcomed by the Chittagong naval region chief staff officer as well as high-ranking officials of the Bangadesh Navy, as per New Age.

The Russian ambassador to Bangladesh, military, air and naval attache, and Russian honorary consul in Chittagong were also present.

A Russian delegation including the captains of the ships and the Russian ambassador to Bangladesh will be paying courtesy calls to commander Chittagong Naval Area, commander BN Fleet and chairman of Chittagong Port Authority.

The officers and sailors of the visiting ships will lay a wreath at the Redkin Point inside the Naval Academy.

They will visit the Navy training base and ships, BN Ashar Alo School for the special children as well as different scenic and historical sites in Chattogram.

Members of the Bangladesh navy and students of schools run by the navy will also visit the Russian ships.

“The goodwill visit will further strengthen bilateral relations, exchange views on professional matters, and create opportunities for future training and mutual cooperation between the naval officers and sailors of the two countries,” according to the release put out by the Bangladesh navy.

The ships are slated to leave the country on April 16.

Why are they there?

As per Economic Times, the visit is an indication that Bangladesh is looking beyond China for its military needs.

The newspaper quoted experts as saying that Bangladesh wants to expand its military partnerships in order to decrease its reliance on China.

Bangladesh’s military heavily relies on Chinese equipment.

As per The Statesman, Bangladesh in recent years has been the second-biggest importer of Chinese arms after Pakistan.

From 2019 to 2023, Bangladesh imported 11 per cent of all Chinese arms exported globally.

Bangladesh during the same period sourced 72 per cent of all its weapons from China.

As per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Bangladesh has spent $2.59 billion on arms purchases from China from 2010 to 2019.

“Dhaka has bought important weapons from Beijing, including maritime patrol vessels, corvettes, tanks, fighter jets, and surface-to-air and anti-ship missiles,” the Sipri report states.

Around 86 per cent of its military imports come from China.

These include naval guns, anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile systems, and corvettes.

Since 2006, the majority of small arms — over 1600 rifles and 4,100 pistols — have been bought from China.

In 2016, Bangladesh purchased two Type 035G class (Ming class) submarines from China at a discounted price  of $203 million.

In 2017, Bangladesh gave a Chinese state-owned defence firm a $1.2 billion contract to build Bangladesh’s first submarine base in Cox’s Bazaar.

The base, named ‘BNS Sheikh Hasina,’ has been operational since last year.

It is capable of housing six submarines and eight warships.

As per Financial Express, Bangladesh is thought to be negotiating an agreement with China to buy 16 J-10C multirole fighter jets as well as attack helicopters.

Bangladesh’s interim chief adviser Muhammad Yunus recently undertook a trip to China.

According to Wion, Yunus signed eight Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and one agreement with regard to infrastructure, economic cooperation, and expanded defence collaboration.

Bangladesh and Russia at present only have a limited partnership when it comes to defence.

Russian has provided the Bangladesh military with a Yak trainer aircraft and a few MiG fighter planes.

With inputs from agencies