Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheik Hasin formally inaugurated construction on the base during a visit to Cox's Bazar on 3 April, 2011. Construction on other projects in the area was also kicked off during her visit, including a rail link to the Burmese border.

Five fighter jets from the Bangladesh Air Force flew over the ceremony, spraying the red and green colors of the national flag when the Prime Minister inaugurated the base around 11:30 am during the ceremony.

"The Air Force will safeguard the country's territorial sea as well as territorial air," said the premier at the inauguration, addressing her government's plans to modernize the country's air force.

The move came three months after Prime Minister Sheik Hasina announced plans to build the base during an address at the Bangladesh Air Force winter graduation parade on 27 December.

Bangladesh has a territorial dispute with Burma over the hydrocarbon rich sea off the coast of Cox's Bazar, and the new air force base is strategically significant for the country's efforts to ensure security of its maritime boundaries.

Both countries have sought the UN's arbitration by lodging their particular claims over the disputed sea - Bangladesh submitted its claims last February and Burma submitted its claim in December 2008.

They also pledged, during meetings that were held after tension was sparked when the two countries sent warships to the disputed waters in 2008, to solve their dispute through peaceful bilateral talks.

On the same day of opening work on the air base, Hasina also inaugurated works on building a much awaited 128-kilometer long meter-gauge railroad from the southern port city Chittagong to Gungdum on the Burma border.

Work on the $255 million railroad project is set to be complete by December 2013, and the railroad is also intended to be used as a corridor to connect with the Trans-Asian Railway Network and China's Kunming City through Arakan State in Burma.

Burma has also been expanding its rail routes through Arakan State, including one line that will link Kyaukpru to China's Kunming City alongside the oil and gas pipelines. Construction of this railway is set to be completed by 2015.

However, Burma must also build a rail line from Maungdaw to Kyauktaw to provide a corridor in order for Bangladesh to connect to China or the Trans-Asian Railway Network through Burma.

Nearly a decade-long stall on progress of the Burma - Bangladesh Friendship Road and construction of a border fence in Arakan State demonstrates that Burma has little interest in having rail or road links with Bangladesh.