NEW DELHI: Simply when India was poised to take its historically good defence-military ties with Bangladesh on a pointy upward trajectory in a bid to stem China’s main strategic inroads into the nation, the fleeing of Sheikh Hasina from her nation on Monday has injected an air of uncertainty into your entire equation.
Bangladesh Military chief Basic Waker-Uz-Zaman (58), a profession infantry officer who declared his power was taking up the nation’s reins and would quickly announce an interim govt, was in reality slated to go to India later this month.
“It will have been Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman’s first international go to after turning into the Military chief on June 23 for a three-year tenure. Regardless of China’s increasing affect in Bangladesh, Dhaka’s bilateral defence ties with New Delhi had been on an upswing. However all the things is in a state of flux now,” a supply mentioned.
Only a month in the past, Bangladesh had inked a cope with Indian defence shipyard GRSE in Kolkata to construct an 800-tonne superior ocean-going tug, within the first main deal inked below the $500-million line of credit score for defence purchases prolonged by New Delhi to Dhaka, which was operationalized final yr.
The contract coincided with Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi’s four-day go to to Bangladesh to additional consolidate defence ties and discover new avenues for maritime cooperation. Admiral Tripathi held discussions with Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman in addition to the naval and air power chiefs, Admiral M Nazmul Hassan and Air Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, throughout the go to.
“Talks had been underway for Bangladesh to purchase Indian offshore patrol vessels in addition to get spares for upkeep for its Russian-origin MiG-29 and Mi-17 helicopters. Aside from joint workout routines and capacity-building programmes, Indian army institutions have been coaching Bangladeshi defence personnel for many years,” the supply mentioned.
The Indian defence institution is now in a wait-and-watch mode to see how occasions unfold in Bangladesh, together with the interim govt’s composition and its impression on bilateral army ties.
“Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman is pro-India. Because the principal workers officer of the Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh earlier, he co-chaired with the Indian defence secretary the bilateral annual defence dialogues in 2022 and 2023,” one other supply mentioned.
“But when the interim govt is stuffed with representatives from the anti-India Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) and radical outfits like Jamaat-e-Islami, issues might nicely head south. The Jamaat has additionally unfold its affect within the Bangladeshi army through the years,” he added.
Then, there may be China. Bangladesh was the second greatest recipient globally of Chinese language arms within the 2019-2023 timeframe, notching up 11% of them as in comparison with 61% of Pakistan.
General, Bangladesh sources 70-80% of its arms imports from China, which has ranged from F-7 fighter jets, main-battle tanks and corvettes to naval weapons, surface-to-air missiles, rifles and ammunition.
China had even equipped two outdated Ming-class submarines to Bangladesh at a massively discounted worth in 2016. Aside from all kinds of civil infrastructure initiatives, China has additionally helped Bangladesh construct its first full-fledged submarine base at Pekua in Cox’s Bazaar, which was commissioned as BNS Sheikh Hasina in Dec final yr.
Bangladesh Military chief Basic Waker-Uz-Zaman (58), a profession infantry officer who declared his power was taking up the nation’s reins and would quickly announce an interim govt, was in reality slated to go to India later this month.
“It will have been Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman’s first international go to after turning into the Military chief on June 23 for a three-year tenure. Regardless of China’s increasing affect in Bangladesh, Dhaka’s bilateral defence ties with New Delhi had been on an upswing. However all the things is in a state of flux now,” a supply mentioned.
Only a month in the past, Bangladesh had inked a cope with Indian defence shipyard GRSE in Kolkata to construct an 800-tonne superior ocean-going tug, within the first main deal inked below the $500-million line of credit score for defence purchases prolonged by New Delhi to Dhaka, which was operationalized final yr.
The contract coincided with Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi’s four-day go to to Bangladesh to additional consolidate defence ties and discover new avenues for maritime cooperation. Admiral Tripathi held discussions with Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman in addition to the naval and air power chiefs, Admiral M Nazmul Hassan and Air Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, throughout the go to.
“Talks had been underway for Bangladesh to purchase Indian offshore patrol vessels in addition to get spares for upkeep for its Russian-origin MiG-29 and Mi-17 helicopters. Aside from joint workout routines and capacity-building programmes, Indian army institutions have been coaching Bangladeshi defence personnel for many years,” the supply mentioned.
The Indian defence institution is now in a wait-and-watch mode to see how occasions unfold in Bangladesh, together with the interim govt’s composition and its impression on bilateral army ties.
“Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman is pro-India. Because the principal workers officer of the Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh earlier, he co-chaired with the Indian defence secretary the bilateral annual defence dialogues in 2022 and 2023,” one other supply mentioned.
“But when the interim govt is stuffed with representatives from the anti-India Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) and radical outfits like Jamaat-e-Islami, issues might nicely head south. The Jamaat has additionally unfold its affect within the Bangladeshi army through the years,” he added.
Then, there may be China. Bangladesh was the second greatest recipient globally of Chinese language arms within the 2019-2023 timeframe, notching up 11% of them as in comparison with 61% of Pakistan.
General, Bangladesh sources 70-80% of its arms imports from China, which has ranged from F-7 fighter jets, main-battle tanks and corvettes to naval weapons, surface-to-air missiles, rifles and ammunition.
China had even equipped two outdated Ming-class submarines to Bangladesh at a massively discounted worth in 2016. Aside from all kinds of civil infrastructure initiatives, China has additionally helped Bangladesh construct its first full-fledged submarine base at Pekua in Cox’s Bazaar, which was commissioned as BNS Sheikh Hasina in Dec final yr.
