~ Linn Maung ~
The recent heightened military interactions between Bangladesh and Pakistan signal a significant yet concerning shift in South Asia’s strategic scenario. Under the interim leadership in Dhaka and with the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024, Bangladesh appears to be recalibrating its foreign and defense policy, progressively tilting towards Pakistan. This pivot poses critical questions about Dhaka’s strategic autonomy, with growing apprehensions that Bangladesh might be unwittingly becoming a tool in Islamabad’s broader geopolitical designs. The backdrop of these developments includes intensified defense dialogues, high-level military visits, and partnerships that diverge sharply from Bangladesh’s historically India-centric security approach. Adding another layer of complexity is the rumored visit of Hafiz Saeed’s associate (HS) to the sensitive Indo-Bangladesh border, stirring alarms about regional security ramifications.
Since the political upheaval in Bangladesh, the frequency and intensity of Pakistani military engagements with Dhaka have expanded notably. Beginning with General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman, who undertook an official visit to Bangladesh in late October 2025, the relationship has deepened through a series of military exchanges and cooperation agreements. During this visit, Gen Mirza met with Bangladesh Army Chief Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman to discuss enhanced bilateral defense cooperation, including institutionalizing regular exchange visits, joint training exercises, and sharing expertise on counter-terrorism operations. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan described these talks as supportive of a “positive trajectory” in bilateral ties amid evolving regional security dynamics.
Parallel visits by Pakistani senior military officials such as Lt. Gen Tabassum Habib, Director-General of Joint Staff, reinforce this trend. Hosted by Bangladesh’s Armed Forces Division, Lt. Gen Habib’s talks focused on military cooperation, training, and institution-building, which indicated strong institutional endorsement within Bangladesh’s defense circles. Noteworthy is the cancellation of Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman’s planned visit to India. This recalibration is taking place despite the historically fraught legacy between Bangladesh and Pakistan, a legacy marred by the 1971 Liberation War.
The implications for Bangladesh’s security and geopolitical standing are complex and multifaceted. While Dhaka seeks to diversify its diplomatic relationships, this newfound alignment with Islamabad risks turning Bangladesh into a pawn in Pakistan’s broader regional strategies. Islamabad’s diplomacy appears driven by ambitions to regain lost strategic ground in South Asia and reposition itself as a moderate power, particularly as it faces heightened scrutiny and pressures from international actors. Consequently, Bangladesh risks becoming entrapped in a multi-layered game of regional power projection, especially if the cooperation deepens without corresponding safeguards to protect Dhaka’s sovereign interests.
The growing military and strategic cooperation between Bangladesh and Pakistan is likely to contribute to an increase in radicalism within both countries, exacerbating existing security challenges. Bangladesh, already grappling with a rise in religious extremism amid ongoing political instability, faces heightened risks as Pakistani influence intensifies. Reports indicate that transnational extremist groups, including Pakistan-based organizations like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are exploiting the current security vacuum in Bangladesh to propagate radical ideologies and recruit youth. The renewed ties provide fertile ground for these groups to strengthen their networks, spread extremist narratives, and coordinate cross-border militant activities.
China’s growing influence is a pivotal factor shaping the increasing military cooperation between Pakistan and Bangladesh, further complicating South Asia’s strategic landscape. China has actively sought to bolster its ties with both countries through defense diplomacy and economic statecraft, viewing them as key components of its broader regional ambitions. In addition to supplying Pakistan with the majority of its military hardware and engaging in joint military exercises, China has recently deepened its defense relationship with Bangladesh by providing arms, technical support to Bangladesh’s military-industrial complex, and establishing military training pipelines.
The contrast between Bangladesh’s growing military ties with Pakistan and its cautious continuing border diplomacy with India underscores the strategic dilemma faced by Dhaka. While official rhetoric highlights notions of counter-terrorism cooperation and defense capacity building with Pakistan, the latter’s historical, ideological, and strategic objectives pose latent risks. This renewed Bangladesh-Pakistan relationship is eliciting unease in New Delhi, where the Indian government views this transition as destabilizing. India perceives Pakistan’s involvement in Bangladesh as an effort to undermine the traditional Indo-Bangladesh alignment and lower strategic stability.
The increasing military interactions between Bangladesh and Pakistan represent more than a mere shift in defense diplomacy; they are a manifestation of evolving strategic currents that could reconfigure regional security dynamics. While Bangladesh aims to diversify its partnerships and assert an independent foreign policy post-Hasina, it risks becoming an unwitting instrument of Pakistan’s broader geopolitical ambitions. The visit of Hafiz Saeed’s associate to the Indo-Bangladesh border adds an ominous dimension, highlighting the security vulnerabilities that Bangladesh may inadvertently expose itself to through deeper engagement with Pakistan.
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