Dhaka, March 9 -- A tender issued by the Directorate General of Defence Purchase (DGDP) for procuring IT equipment for the Bangladesh Navy has sparked controversy due to its explicit preference for Israeli software - despite the country's longstanding trade restrictions with Israel.

On 12 December 2024, the DGDP floated a tender titled "Establishment of Data Centres and Backbone Networking" to acquire IT equipment for the Navy's key bases in Dhaka and Chittagong, as well as for naval vessels, according to a report published by The Mirror Asia.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) explicitly mentioned Check Point-an Israeli cybersecurity brand-alongside Cisco as a preferred choice, raising legal and ethical concerns.

Check Point, headquartere...