Dhaka, Aug 15: Bangladesh has approved a plan to purchase two new frigates from Italy to augment the country's naval defence capability, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said. Zia, who holds the defence portfolio, told a naval function late yesterday that her government would also take steps to build a "three-dimensional naval force" equipping the navy with air, surface and underwater capabilities, the official BSS news agency said. She said her government had agreed "in principle" to procure two frigates from Italy, but gave no other details.

The government was in favour of developing a "strong, modern and dependable navy to protect Bangladesh's marine resources and sovereignty over the sea," she said according to BSS.
Zia's comments come a week after Dhaka police filed a graft case against her rival and main opposition leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed over the purchase of a naval frigate from a South Korean company during her tenure as Prime Minister between 1996 and 2001. Bureau Report