Historically there has been a strong and spontaneous influence of British legislation and the English language on Bangladesh’s civil, judicial, academic and military institutions drawing the two peoples on a common intellectual platform. Right from the very inception of Bangladesh, defence and security cooperation between Bangladesh and the UK has been warm and intense.

The UK’s continual support to provide all out assistance in developing and training Bangladesh Armed Forces is well marked. A good number of Bangladeshi Armed Forces personnel are trained in UK every year at the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, Royal College of Defence Studies and at the Joint Defence Command Staff Courses. UK has also provided significant military and advisory assistance in setting up the prestigious Defence Services Command and Staff College and the National Defence College (NDC) of Bangladesh.

British Military Assistance Team had been in Bangladesh as instructors for many years. The two Navies are also cooperating closely while most of the ships of Bangladesh Navy (BN) have been procured from Royal Navy thereby facilitating BN achieve commendable capability. Royal Navy has also provided technical advice in setting up important BN infrastructure such as BN Dockyard. The two armed forces have also been working closely in UN Peace-keeping missions and in the global war on terror. Exchange of high profile military visits has also been a hallmark of defence cooperation between the two countries. This excellent cooperation is expected to grow in the future.