Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said, "Our foreign policy is guided by the motto 'Friendship with all, not enmity towards nonr’ introduced by the Father of the Nation." We believe in peaceful coexistence with all neighboring states. However, we are always ready and determined to protect the sovereignty of the country from any aggressive attack from outside.
With that goal in mind, we have formulated the Forces Goal-2030 in the light of Bangabandhu's Defense Policy 1974. In its continuation, the armed forces are being restructured organizationally, provided with advanced training and equipped with specialized military equipment.
The Prime Minister said this while congratulating the members of the three Armed Forces on the occasion of Armed Forces Day-2020 on Saturday (November 21). The Prime Minister said that the small scale armed forces that were born during the war of liberation have become a huge organization today. Soon after independence, the Father of the Nation realized the need for a well-developed and professional armed force. To that end, he formulated a defense policy in 1974.
With limited resources in the war-torn country, Bangabandhu set up the Bangladesh Military Academy, Combined Arms School and a separate training center for each corps of the army in 1972. She said the professionalism and efficiency of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, which stood on the solid foundation of the national defense policy framed by the Father of the Nation on the golden jubilee of independence, has spread across the country and the world.
Sheikh Hasina said the members of the Bangladesh Armed Forces have been carrying out their duties with utmost devotion and self-sacrifice at any juncture in the country. As a front line fighter in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bangladesh Army has implemented 'lockdown operations' in every part of the country. Awareness is being created among the general public on prevention of epidemics and quarantine centers are being set up and operated for persons coming from abroad. In addition, the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka's integrated corona medical management has been praised worldwide beyond the borders of the country.
The Prime Minister said the members of the Armed Forces of Bangladesh have brightened the image of Bangladesh abroad by performing their duties with efficiency and dedication in the UN peacekeeping missions. Over the past decade, we have enriched every branch of the armed forces with modern weapons and equipment. I would like to emphasize that the amount of modernization of the Armed Forces during the tenure of our government has never been greater in the past. The Prime Minister said Bangladesh is a well-known name in the field of socio-economic development today. While many developed and emerging economies are facing negative growth due to the Corona pandemic, our growth rate has increased to 5.24 percent. "I pray that the members of the armed forces will contribute more to the defense and nation building of the country by being strong in honesty, devotion, patriotism and professionalism," she said.