Unfinished Agenda of Mohd Yunus

It has been reported in these columns earlier how Muhammad Yunus, CIA-installed Chief Advisor to the Interim Government of Bangladesh, is prostituting simultaneously for the US, China and Pakistan. Beijing has considerable influence in Bangladesh and China has built the submarine base for the Bangladesh navy at Pekua in Cox’s Bazar (costing USD1.21 billion), which is the largest in South Asia. Pakistan’s ISI is well fortified inside Bangladesh, and Yunus has awarded Elon Musk the license for Starlink cover to Bangladesh  (https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/op-eds/bathuas-bilby/).  The US wants an aid corridor in Bangladesh to assist the Arakan Army fighting the military junta in Myanmar and Yunus is presenting Bangladesh as a springboard for mischief in northeast India – not very different from a ‘Madam’, heading a whorehouse, open to any games (https://raksha-anirveda.com/bangladesh-boogies-north-east-india/).

Yunus has gone full hilt to ensure rise of radical Islamization in Bangladesh, releasing terrorist leaders from prison, allowing them to hold open rallies, reciprocal visits of hardcore Islamists between Bangladesh and Pakistan, a delegation of Islamist radical-cum-terrorist leaders visiting Beijing, and genocide against non-Muslims, particularly Hindus. The current upheaval in Bangladesh is on two-counts; the Yunus-military rift and the prolonged delay in holding elections. Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, has publicly urged that national elections be held by December this year, warning that prolonged deployment of the army for civil duties could compromise the country’s defences.

In addition, Waker-Uz-Zaman is vehemently opposed to the aid corridor to the Arakan Army in Myanmar (termed ‘Rakhine Corridor’) endorsed by Yunus, deeming it a threat to national sovereignty and regional stability. He has labelled it a “bloody corridor” and has criticized the interim government's decision-making process, particularly the lack of consultation with the military on such a critical issue. America views the Rakhine Corridor as a counter to China's growing influence in the Bay of Bengal and wants to establish a foothold in Bangladesh for advancing America’s strategic interests in South Asia and the region.

Yunus held closed door meetings with the three chiefs of the Armed Forces. There were rumours that Yunus planned to resign. However, Wahiduddin Mahmud, acting head of the planning ministry, told reporters Yunus hadn’t said he’d resign and the other advisers were also staying. Yunus is adamant that elections will only be held around June 2026. On being installed as the Chief Advisor in 2024, Yunus had said that elections will be held in about a year, later changed it to end 2025-early 2026, and now June 2026. It is apparent that Yunus wants to hold on to power for as long as possible. Now the latest is Yunus saying elections will be held between December 2025 and June 2026; which again means stalling for time, with his supporters saying he has an “unfinished agenda”; what could that be?

The US naturally wants its own pound of flesh for toppling the Sheikh Hasina regime and installing Yunus as chief advisor in the form of the Rakhine Corridor. American mercenaries have been operating with anti-junta forces in Myanmar and are also present in Bangladesh; latter possibly to ensure Yunus is not bumped off. But Yunus can’t establish this corridor without the army’s assistance, which doesn’t appear possible right now. However, the US can be expected to try and exert pressure in an effort to achieve this. China is arming the military junta in Myanmar, as well as anti-junta forces, but would go against anything that adversely affects its BRI in Bangladesh, including the deep-water port in Kyaukphyu.

Yunus has invited China to establish an airbase at Lalmonirhat (12-15 km from India’s border and 135 kms from Chicken's Neck) and a Pakistani firm to assist during the development. Chinese officials have inspected the Lalmonirhat World War II airfield, and a delegation of senior officers of the Pakistani army and ISI also visited Rangpur District. Lalmonirhat District and Rangpur District are both part of the Rangpur Division. The plan could be for Lalmonirhat to serve as forward surveillance and logistics base, provide dual-use capabilities (civil-military) and offer aircraft refuelling or maintenance facilities for the PLA. Aside from aircraft, the airbase could have a complement of UAVs and UCAVs, plus electronic warfare (EW) systems to monitor Indian aerial movements and ‘interfere’ with them, when required. The base could also have weapons/missiles in underground silos, as is in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK).

Bangladesh has renewed its MoU with China’s state-owned PowerChina and Yunus will want to officially sign the Multipurpose Teesta Project with China before he relinquishes power. Both these projects are also to come up close to the Chicken’s Neck area, and both would have PLA presence because all Chinese projects on foreign have PLA personnel presence in disguise. Then there is also the issue of the Saint Martin Island, which India had gifted to Bangladesh in the past. Sheikh Hasina had hinted America wanted this to establish a base, and her refusal was one of the reasons for her ouster. The US has not occupied St. Martin Island as of now, but no one is allowed to visit the island. Being the ‘Madam’ servicing both the US and China, Yunus may have planned to give Lalmonirhat and St. Martin Island to China and America respectively for establishing bases.  

When Bangladesh will hold elections is ambiguous but it certainly will not be democratic because Yunus has banned the Awami League. Not only that, but Yunus has also purged the Awami League leaders and supporters to the maximum extent.  Moreover, banning or not banning Awami League has little relevance now because the Awami League leadership has been forced to abandon Bangladesh and flee the country.  The questions, however, remain what kind of investments India made in Bangladesh, how was India not able to see the writing on the wall despite it being obvious some years back, and doesn’t this reflect very poorly on India’s foreign policy and intelligence agencies?

As and when elections are held in Bangladesh, a BNP or a BNP-led coalition is likely to come to power. Whenever the BNP was earlier in power in Dhaka, the Bangladesh army used to practice ‘Cold Start’; to invade the Siliguri Corridor and join up with terrorist groups operating in the area, in conjunction with a Chinese thrust from the north to cut off northeast India. There have been reports of Rohingya occupying land on both sides of the roads and rail-lines passing through the Siliguri Corridor. China illegally claims Arunachal Pradesh and has been assisting terrorist-militant groups in our northeast.

The Indian Army conducted an integrated field exercise named, Operation ‘Teesta Prahar’ in the Siliguri Corridor near the Bangladesh border on May 8-10, 2025; aimed to showcase enhanced combat readiness and joint-force coordination in a riverine terrain. The exercise involved various arms and services, including infantry, artillery, and special forces, and utilized newly inducted weapons systems. According to news reports, India has deployed the S-400 AD missile system to protect the Siliguri Corridor. It is obvious that other weapon systems, including the BrahMos missiles and UAVs/UCAVs would also have been positioned to protect the region. A layered approach for not only air defence, but also border security is essential maximizing the use of technology; simply relying on a fence or electronic surveillance is insufficient, as human ingenuity and technological advancements can often circumvent such barriers. 24x7 satellite-based real-time surveillance, in addition, EW and counter-EW measures are essential.

Threatening India’s Chicken’s Neck, ‘Madam’ Yunus doesn’t realise what India can do to the 80-km ‘North Bangladesh Corridor’ (from Dakhin Dinajpur in India’s West Bengal to South West Garo Hills in Meghalaya) and 28-km wide ‘Chittagong Corridor’ running (from near Belonia in Tripura down to the Bay of Bengal) to strangulate Bangladesh from within and dismember it; but how can one expect such intelligence from ‘Madam’ Yunus? Perhaps Yunus could learn something from Operation ‘Sindoor’, even if ‘Madam’ doesn’t apply Sindoor.

Brigadier General Md Nazim-ud-Daula, Director Military Operations of Bangladesh Army said on May 26, 2025 that India has been handing over Bangladeshi illegal immigrants to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel, "pushing in" of undocumented people by Indian authorities was "unacceptable", and the army was ready to step in if the need arose. He said the BGB was handling the situation well for now. The handing over and expulsion of illegal immigrants has been termed "pushing in" by Dhaka, and it has said it would send back Indians staying illegally in Bangladesh through proper diplomatic channels. Earlier on May 18, Bangladesh Home Affairs Adviser Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that if any Bangladeshi immigrant was staying illegally in India, they should be repatriated through proper channels. However, India has over 40,000 illegal Rohingya immigrants and scores keep crossing over. “Undocumented” Bangladeshi migrants detained across India are being handed over through the border, which is not new; 295 were sent back in 2024 and 100 till April this year (https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/illegal-bangladeshi-from-india-push-ins-unacceptable-ready-to-step-in-if-needed-bangladesh-army-2730909-2025-05-26).

Yunus is a trouble-maker but General Waker-Uz-Zaman, who reportedly is a distant relative of Sheikh Hasina, needs to take a pragmatic view of the situation, avoid further deterioration of bilateral relations by taking back illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, and stop any more illegal crossings from Bangladesh to India. Finally, early election in Bangladesh is the need of the hour.

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