Indian intelligence agencies have issued a high alert across West Bengal ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kolkata visit on August 22, following growing military engagement between Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to inaugurate three metro corridors in the state capital, barely 100 kilometres from the Bangladesh border. Security officials said the latest developments in Dhaka’s defence ties with Islamabad have added “strategic concern” in the immediate neighbourhood.
On August 16, a ten-member delegation of senior Bangladeshi Army officers led by Quarter Master General Lieutenant General Faizur Rahman left for Islamabad on a week-long tour at the invitation of the Pakistan High Commission’s Defence Wing in Dhaka. The visit, aimed at boosting defence cooperation, follows a string of high-level contacts between the two armies.
Sources said the delegation will return on August 24 after visiting Pakistan’s ordnance factories and sensitive facilities linked with air defence systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missile technologies. The officers are also scheduled to inspect facilities specialised in the maintenance and overhaul of MI-series helicopters.
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The agenda includes first-hand assessments of Pakistan’s defence manufacturing processes and potential areas of joint technological cooperation. Officials familiar with the matter said the initiative is designed to give “strategic heft” to Bangladesh’s armed forces.
The Islamabad tour comes just ahead of Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman’s visit to Beijing from August 22–25 on the invitation of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In January this year, Dhaka had sent another army delegation to Pakistan for talks with Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir, followed by a Dhaka visit of an ISI team led by Asim Malik.
The defence outreach is being closely watched in the backdrop of Dhaka’s evolving security posture under the Mohammad Yunus-led interim regime, which took charge on August 8, 2024. Since then, the Bangladeshi leadership has sought to build closer ties not only with Pakistan and China, but also with Turkey and the United States.
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