Muscat, Oman (BBN) – Senior Bangladesh naval personnel met their Omani counterparts on Monday to discuss more cooperation on military training exchanges.

Two Bangladesh Navy Ships, BNS Osman and BNS Madhumati, recently paid goodwill visits to Port of Salalah (PoS) and Port Sultan Qaboos on their way back to home country after completing a tour of duty with the multinational Maritime Task Force as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), reports zawya.com.

SMAK Azad, commanding officer, BNS Osman and Commander Sharif, commanding officer, BNS Madhumati paid a courtesy call on the Director of GCC Affairs and Defence Attachés at the office of the Chief of Staff, Sultan's Armed Forces.

They discussed matters of mutual interest, particularly training of navy personnel in both countries.

H E Sheikh Sekander Ali, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the sultanate said, "The goodwill visits by two Bangladesh navy ships to Oman, after completion of their tour of duty with UNIFIL, will further boost the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries, particularly between both navies."

H E Ali thanked Omani authorities for extending support to the Bangladesh navy ships during their visits to PoS and PSQ.

"Several issues related to cooperation in different areas were discussed, but it will take some time for them to materialise. However, the visits helped to boost ties between both countries," said an official in the Bangladeshi Embassy in Muscat.

On Sunday evening, a reception onboard BNS Osman was organised which was attended by members of the diplomatic community in Muscat and expatriate Bangladeshi community.

The ships were docked at PoS from June 30 to July 2. During their stay in Salalah, the commanding officers of BNS Osman and BNS Madhumati met the deputy governor of Dhofar, and the commanding officer of Oman's southern naval area command.

The two ships are expected to reach Bangladesh by the end of this month, with probable stoppages at the ports of Colombo in Sri Lanka, and Mumbai and Chennai in India.

BBN/ANS-10July14-2:30pm (BST)