Daily Times

India and Bangladesh have a long history of working together, dating back to the 1971 Liberation War. High-level discussions between Service Chiefs, the annual defence dialogues led by the defence secretary, tri-service discussions, and staff meetings specialized to each service are all examples of the defence side’s active engagement.

On August 28 this year, India and Bangladesh conducted their fifth annual defence dialogue in Dhaka. The meeting was co-chaired by Lt. Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman, Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division, Bangladesh and his Indian counterpart, Defense Secretary Giridhar Aramane. This event took place during the two-day visit of Giridhar Aramane to Bangladesh from August 27 to August 28.

It is worth mentioning, that the Annual Defense Dialogue between India and Bangladesh is the most institutionalized interactive mechanism between the two nations. Within this dialogue, both nations emphasized their critical role in shaping the trajectory of relations between their respective armed forces.

Regular dialogue in the security area will play a significant role in consolidating the dynamism.

At the meeting, the participants conducted a comprehensive review of the ongoing defence cooperation initiatives between India and Bangladesh. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the escalating level of engagement in defence cooperation. The discussions encompassed the current bilateral exercises, with mutual consensus on elevating the intricacy of these drills.

Giridhar Aramane and Lt. Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman acknowledged the productive nature of the dialogue and emphasized the prospect of ongoing engagement based on the shared consensus established during the fifth Annual Defense Dialogue. The armed forces of both nations persist in their pursuit of collaborative efforts across various domains, and the heightened level of engagement signifies a promising outlook for the future bilateral relationship.

Growing strategic relations

India-Bangladesh bonhomie in the security dimension has undeniably reached new heights in the past few years. It can easily be speculated that Indo-Bangladesh strategic relations will continue to add “more depth and momentum” in the defence and security aspect of the bilateral relationship as both countries are committed to addressing each other’s concerns and working towards common solutions.

Two defence agreements were signed between Bangladesh and India during Sheikh Hasina’s four-day trip to New Delhi in April 2017. These were the first such pacts inked by India with any of its neighbours. Under these agreements, the militaries of the two countries will conduct joint exercises and training. India will help Bangladesh set up manufacturing and service centres with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in defence manufacturing. India will also provide the Bangladesh military with expert training and technical and logistical support. India also extended its first-ever defence-related line of credit to a neighbouring country by providing Bangladesh with $500 million to purchase defence equipment from India.

Under ‘joint training and exercises, the defence services of both countries now participate in joint exercises, medical assistance, and training programs. SAMPRITI, the joint military exercise operation to counter terrorism, completed its 10th edition at Jashore Military Station on June 16, 2022. The exercise allows the contingents from both armies to understand each other’s tactical drills and operational techniques and share their experience in counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, and disaster relief operations under the United Nations mandate.

Reciprocity in security cooperation

It is noteworthy that India’s relationship with Bangladesh is one of the main pillars of its ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East policies. At present, India and Bangladesh share a warmer relationship and cooperate in the various socio-economic, political, military, technological, and cultural contexts of South Asia. There are now regular reciprocal visits by the leaders of their governments and armed forces.

Understandably, Bangladesh is key to India’s land links eastward. When Prime Minister Hasina came to power in 2009, Dhaka assured Delhi that it would never allow even “an inch of its territory” to be used by any extremist activity against India, in line with the former’s zero-tolerance policy against terrorism and militancy. New Delhi’s major “security concerns” in seven sisters had already been significantly addressed by Bangladesh.

The latest 5th annual defence dialogue underscores the significance of India-Bangladesh bilateral relations and defence cooperation, symbolizing the “Neighbourhood First” policy. Both countries are cooperating extensively in trade and commerce, power and energy, transport and connectivity, science and technology, defence and security, maritime affairs, climate change and sustainable development, training programs, joint exercises, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR).

Through a variety of initiatives, including joint training and drills and defense discussions, the two countries’ armed forces have been working together more and more. Two Indian naval ships, INS ‘Kulish’ and INS ‘Sumedha’, made a port call at Bangladesh’s Mongla Port in March 2023. Bilateral visits by senior military officers contribute to enhancing military-to-military relations between both nations. The Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff visited India in April 2023.

Both India and Bangladesh have welcomed the initiatives to develop a closer effort to strengthen maritime security partnerships. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) related to the establishment of a coastal surveillance radar system in Bangladesh’s Chittagong and Mongla ports has also been inked between India and Bangladesh.

US factor

Ironically, the US has been pressuring Bangladesh, including through sanctions, without even discussing with India (the major power in South Asia) what should be the geopolitical equation in South Asia to check China’s expansionist designs. The cacophony of the US political elites of a ‘Rule Based Order’ is nothing but crap looking at the execution on the ground which makes it ‘Rogue Based’.

America’s Joe Biden Administration knows full well that pressuring Bangladesh would imply pushing it towards China. The same has been the effect of US and Western sanctions on Myanmar. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal are already debt-trapped by China. Under the circumstances, continued American pressure on Bangladesh means that the country should go the Myanmar way and India gets surrounded from all sides, leaving India no option but to seek a formal alliance with the US to save itself and/or face death and destruction like Ukraine fighting China as the US-NATO proxy.

Henry Kissinger once said, “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy but to be America’s friend is fatal. But much before Kissinger, Harry Truman, as a senator in 1940, said, “If we see that Germany is winning, we ought to help Russia, and if Russia is winning, we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible. American policy is to use and throw nations, but it is in India’s interest that the Sheikh Hasina government continue in power to ensure stability in South Asia.

Both India and Bangladesh are members of SAARC, BIMSTEC, and IORA. Since the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh in 2015 and the reciprocal visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in 2017, notable developments have taken place in bilateral cooperation.

Undoubtedly, in South Asia, Bangladesh is a long-time, tested, and genuine strategic friend of India. The recently held 5th annual defence dialogue might serve to cement bilateral defence ties more constructively. It is expected that regular dialogue in the security area will play a significant role in consolidating the dynamism of contemporary ties and provide an opportunity to renew bonds based on a shared geographical space, heritage, and history.

The writer is a freelance columnist.