US 7th Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Escott H Swift on Sunday assured that they have no intension to set up any permanent or temporary base in the Bay of Bengal.
“We are more interested to assist Bangladesh army and navy to enhance their ability to protect its maritime resources from pirates, protect country form terrorist attack and co-operate during natural disasters,” he said.
The US admiral told this at a roundtable discussion at in the capital’s Hotel Radisson in afternoon.
Admiral Swift, who arrived in Dhaka on Saturday, will attend the second “Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training” (CARAT) exercise between the US navy and Bangladesh navy that will begin on Monday with an opening ceremony at Naval Base Issa Khan in Chittagong.
US Ambassador Dan Mozena also spoke on the roundtable discussion.
Source: The Daily Star
