It is heartening to note that Bangladesh’s Air Force Chief Marshal (ACM) Hasan Mahmood Khan has discussed avenues aimed at enhancing defence cooperation with Pakistan in separate meetings with Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf.
Bangladesh air force chief’s visit to Pakistan has taken place amid growing tensions between his country and India following the ouster of prime minister Hasina Wajed in 2024. Pakistan, too, has been facing growing belligerence of India since the tragic incident of Pahalgam in the Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in April last year.
The situation, therefore, requires both the countries to strengthen military collaboration and training exchanges between the armed forces of the two countries. In fact, both the countries have already embarked upon the path of military cooperation with the visit of a senior Bangladeshi officers to Pakistan some time ago.
Moreover, the Bangladeshi navy participated in Pakistan’s naval exercise “Aman”, which is a biennial, multinational maritime drill hosted by the Pakistan Navy in the Arabian Sea.
It is increasingly clear that India is now the common adversary of both Bangladesh and Pakistan after the then prime minister Hasina Wajed resigned and fled to India amid escalating popular protests against her rule, which was strongly characterized by significant human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and a brutal crackdown on dissent. One of the major reasons behind the heightened tensions between Bangladesh and India is latter’s decision to punish Mohammad Yunus-led interim government.
Mushfiqur Rahman (Dubai)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026