Pakistan Navy Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf will arrive in Bangladesh on November 8 for a four-day official visit, signalling a deepening defence engagement between Dhaka and Islamabad. The visit is the highest-level military interaction since the Mohammad Yunus-led interim regime assumed office on August 8, 2024.
Admiral Ashraf’s trip follows a series of recent high-level exchanges. On November 3, a three-member Bangladesh Army delegation led by Adjutant General Major General Mashrur Rahman travelled to Rawalpindi for a bilateral staff meeting. This came shortly after Pakistan’s Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, toured Dhaka and Sylhet between October 24 and 28, strengthening institutional military links.
According to officials within Bangladesh’s intelligence establishment, Dhaka plans to extend a “red carpet welcome” to the visiting admiral, who will be accompanied by his spouse Fouzia Naveed and four senior Pakistan Navy officers, Commodore Adnan Laghari, Captain Ejaz Ahmed, and Lieutenant Commanders Pushteban Arbab and Usman Tariq Awan.
The delegation will stay at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dhaka, where arrangements have reportedly been made to serve strictly halal cuisine. On November 9, Admiral Ashraf will receive a guard of honour at Bangladesh’s Naval Headquarters before meeting Bangladesh Navy Chief Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan.
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Later the same day, he is expected to meet Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus before travelling to Chittagong, where he will spend the night at the Boat Club. On November 10, he will be hosted aboard BNS Issa Khan, Bangladesh’s second-largest naval base, for calls with the Chattogram Naval Area Commander and the Area Superintendent Dockyard. His itinerary may also include visits to Pekua near Cox’s Bazar, home to a major submarine base, as well as Chittagong Port and other naval installations.
The delegation will return to Dhaka that evening. On November 11, Admiral Ashraf is scheduled to meet Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan and Lieutenant General S. M. Kamrul Hassan, Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division. The day will conclude with a round of golf at Kurmitola Golf Club and dinner at Pakistan House.
Officials said the Pakistani visitors will not meet Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman during the trip. The delegation will depart for Islamabad on November 12 afternoon on Thai Airways flight TG-322.
While authorities have not disclosed the detailed agenda for the Chittagong leg, defence analysts say the visit reflects widening naval and strategic coordination between the two countries, a development being closely monitored in New Delhi as regional alignments evolve.
By Pranab Mondal
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