The BanPak Affair

The two-day visit to Bangladesh by Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar, who is also the deputy prime minister, concurrent to Quarter Master General of Bangladesh Army Lt Gen Md Faizur Rahman discussing regional security and defence cooperation with Pakistan’s Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, CJCSC at Rawalpindi indicates concerted efforts to forge a strategic alliance between the two countries. Post the CIA-orchestrated regime change in Bangladesh and installation of Mohammed Yusuf as Chief Advisor to the Interim Government of Bangladesh, there has been a flurry of visits by Pakistani military/ISI officials to Bangladesh, Bangladesh military officials to Pakistan, and both-way visits of radical Islamists and terrorist leaders. 

According to news reports, M Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh interim government's Foreign Adviser, raised pending issues, including an apology for the 1971 war, with Dar. Dar’s response was that these unsettled issues were resolved twice – first in 1974 in tripartite talks involving New Delhi in India, and later by then President Pervez Musharraf during his Dhaka visit when he talked in public with an “open mind”.

Hossain said, “China is enthusiastic about this bilateral relationship. Pakistan is also enthusiastic about this relationship… We want Bangladesh to have the same kind of relations with Pakistan in the way it maintains relations with other countries. Dar also met Yunus and Jamaat-E-Islami (JeI) head Shafiqur Rahman’ signalling the importance JeI has received courtesy Yunus. Both countries signed MoUs on setting up a Joint Working Group on trade and on increasing cooperation between the Foreign Service Academies of both sides, as well as allowing diplomats and officials of both sides to travel without visas.

America’s plan to open a logistics corridor to support the Arakan Army operations against the military junta in Myanmar was opposed by the Bangladesh army chief gen Waker-uz-Zaman. The US hopes to reduce the Chinese influence in Bangladesh together with fanning radicalization to target India in conjunction with Pakistan. But China’s hold on Bangladesh is unlikely to wane. Bangladesh is expecting USD 550.62 million Chinese loan to commence the first phase of the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project (TRCMRP), planned to be completed by 2029.  

During the recent Janmashtami rally at the Dhakeshwari Temple in Bangladesh, Army Chief Gen Wakar Uz-Zaman told the Hindu devotees that the country belongs to people of all religions and communities, and all citizens living in Bangladesh are equal, regardless of their religion or region. He urged everyone to celebrate the festival with joy and harmony. But he obviously knew that the radical Islamists, including terrorist/terrorist leaders released from prison under directions of Yunus, are continuing with rapes and genocide against Hindus.

Bangladesh journalist Salahuddin Shoaib Chowdhury writes Pakistan's ISI is fuelling religious fundamentalism in Bangladesh, targeting Hindu temples through Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives. Local media reports indicate Pakistan-linked and other terrorist groups are attempting attacks and occupations of temples; specifically, the Medhas Muni Ashram in Chittagong, the Golden Temple in Bandarban district and the Adinath Temple in Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh is becoming a launchpad for radical Islamic and terrorist forces under the Yunus government.

Taj Hashmi, historian and security analyst, writes “it is not difficult to understand that overpopulated Bangladesh with scarce resources, rampant corruption, and a severe shortage of skilled individuals can only move in one direction – downhill” (https://countercurrents.org/2025/08/dual-governance-in-bangladesh-yunuss-pro-western-approach-and-the-armys-pro-indian-stance/). He says Wakar (close relative of Sheikh Hasina) wanted Asif Nazrul (professor at Dhaka University) to lead the Interim Government but due to pressure from student coordinators he supported Yunus.

Radical Islamists of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and JeI are on a rampage. In Chittagong they reportedly abducted a Hindu woman, raped her and cut her tongue, while in Chandpur they attacked a Hindu dominated village and tried to abduct but were prevented by the villagers. Brahma Chellaney writes that since Prime Minister Modi met Yunus four and a half months ago, New Delhi has maintained silence on Bangladesh’s repression — including continuing attacks on the long-persecuted Hindu minority. While Yunus’s government has freed convicted terrorists, it has jailed the monk who led large, peaceful protests against Islamist assaults on Hindus; the ailing monk, Chinmoy Krishna Das, has been languishing in prison since last November.

India has imposed fresh restriction on jute products from Bangladesh; not allowed from any land port in India. Cashing on the Malaysia-Pakistan-Turkey Islamist link up siding with Pakistan on Kashmir, Yunus visited Malaysia and signed five MoUs to consolidate partnership with that country. Having already banned the Awami League at home and even convicted Sheikh Hasina, the Yunis regime is seeking to extend that ban to Indian territory; urging India to act against Awami League offices and “senior leaders” it claims are operating from Indian soil, warning that bilateral relations may otherwise suffer.

Yunus earlier indicated elections in Bangladesh in December 2025/early 2026, but has now announced elections in Bangladesh in April 2026. There is speculation he will continue to head the government as long as the US wants him to. Donald Trump’s tariffs on India will reportedly hit 66% of India's total exports worth USD 86.5 billion, amounting to USD 60.2 billion in goods. This will be a boon for Bangladeshi garments export to the US.

By adopting Pakistan army chief FM Asim Munir as its mascot, the Trump Administration aims to calibrate the destabilization of India/South Asia, even as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is accelerating attacks on Pakistan with US-supplied weapons. While China is toying with a new SAARC-like organization to include Afghanistan, Trump has appointed 38-year-old Sergie Gor as the US ambassador to India, with added responsibility as Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs; which could be disadvantagous to New Delhi. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says India-US trade deal may come about in May-June 2026, indicating Trump will continue pressuring India.

It is well known that Trump’s tariffs on India have nothing to do with India buying Russian oil. According to George Friedman, Trump’s larger geopolitical game is to signal to China that the US is not arming India, which Beijing views as a threat. More significantly, India, including India’s economy, is not critical for the US. Trump is targeting India to avoid war with China. The Indian hierarchy would find it difficult to swallow this.

Bangladesh’s radical-Islamist Mufti Harun Izhar vows Hindu genocide in Bangladesh and Ghazwa-e-Hind to Islamize India but the Yunus administration and Gen Wakar have nothing to say. This would be part of the Munir-ISI plan, but does it suit the CIA as well? There are also reports that Bangladesh is hiring Rohingya mercenaries from Chittagong Hill Tracts for attacking India, showcasing them as Indian dissidents.

Recent reports indicate some Pakistani nationals and other terrorists from Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and Hamas Terrorists from Syria and Palestine in large numbers have arrived/are arriving in Bangladesh. In Dhaka a terrorist from the HTS group identified as Ikram Hussain, delivered a speech on Ghazwa-e-Hind. Concurrently, a HTS commander (believed to be a Pakistani) at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (Syria) also delivered a speech on Ghazwa-e-Hind.

Some Pakistani and Bangladeshis were arrested in Meghalaya from border villages, according to news reports of August 10, 2025. Earlier in February, nine Bangladeshi nationals, who entered India illegally, were arrested from Meghalaya. Now Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says elements from Bangladesh are provoking unrest around the Chicken's Neck area (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/elements-from-bangladesh-provoking-unrest-around-chicken-neck-assam-cm-sarma/articleshow/123436380.cms). Concurrently,  Assam Tribune reports sub-units of 23 Para (Special Forces) have been deployed in Dhubri District of Assam as part of the eviction drive of illegals. This raises questions, why Para (Special Forces) are deployed for a role that CAPF and police forces are meant for? Is there a lack of imagination or political guts why these specialist troops have been used for just one ‘surgical strike’ since 2014 and not deployed cross-border even in Operation ‘Sindoor’since2014 and not even deployed cross-border during Operation ‘Sindoor’?

With the election campaigns kicking off for West Bengal, both PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are blaming the State Government for illegal ingress of Bangladeshis despite the fact that the BSF manning the border with Bangladesh is directly under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) headed by Amit Shah. More than a decade back, India Today the TV channel showed their reporter (name withheld) on the India-Bangladesh border next to a BSF jawan sitting on a chair and a line of illegal Bangladeshis crossing into India close by in broad daylight. Obviously, the game of ‘cash for immigration’ is in play and the booty is shared all the way up to the MHA. Now a recently video-clip shows how easy it is to infiltrate through the India-Bangladesh border. Granted  that the State Government benefits from illegal immigration for vote-banks, but what is the accountability of the BSF, R&AW, IB? MHA and the Home Minister himself? Is the larger game to continue this state of affairs in the interest of power politics?

A post on X asks, when Modi held grand programmes in the US over the last few years the diaspora chanted India-India, but why are they silent now.

The answer is simple – Trump will boot out anyone who raises his/her voice. The Irony for India is that having been backstabbed by Trump, Modi is going to China which has periodically backstabbed India, in addition to closely assisting Pakistan during Operation ‘Sindoor’. India is sandwiched between two bullies.

The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.