Dhaka, Jan 23 (IANS) Bangladesh risks being embedded in a Sino-Pakistan security ecosystem – one that serves Beijing’s regional ambitions at the expense of Dhaka’s national interest. Since Muhammad Yunus assumed office as the interim government’s chief advisor in 2024, Bangladesh has renewed and broadened discussions on procuring advanced Chinese military hardware, including fourth-generation fighter jets such as the J-10C, a report highlighted on Friday.
According to a report in the leading Bangladeshi weekly ‘Blitz’, these negotiations are reportedly taking place not only directly with Beijing but also through Sino-Pakistani joint-venture mechanisms –further complicating Bangladesh’s strategic position.
“When US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent Christensen publicly warned about the long-term risks of Chinese military and strategic entanglement, his remarks were not merely a routine diplomatic caution. They sounded more like an early alarm bell. Bangladesh, once viewed in Washington and New Delhi as a country that carefully balanced competing global interests, now appears to be edging toward a far deeper embrace of Beijing – with Pakistan quietly positioning itself as a facilitating partner in that transition,” the report detailed.
“At the centre of this accelerating realignment stands Muhammad Yunus. Under his stewardship, Dhaka seems increasingly willing to recalibrate Bangladesh’s geopolitical orientation, even if that recalibration comes at the cost of long-term sovereignty, strategic autonomy, and regional equilibrium. The shift is gradual, but the direction is unmistakable,” it mentioned.
The report stated that Bangladesh’s Armed Forces Division, led by Principal Staff Officer Lieutenant General S M Kamrul Hasan, has been actively involved in high-level defence discussions with Chinese counterparts.
“Multiple delegations have visited China in recent months to explore modernisation options for the Bangladesh Air Force, particularly the replacement of ageing aircraft fleets that are nearing the end of their operational life. In parallel, Dhaka has intensified discussions with Pakistan over the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, a platform jointly developed by China and Pakistan and aggressively marketed by Islamabad as a ‘cost-effective’ multirole solution,” it added.
The report stressed Bangladesh risks being trapped in a Beijing-Islamabad-dominated military ecosystem, with minimal scope for diversification or exit.
“The defence dimension is only one part of a broader pattern. Beyond arms and aircraft, Yunus’s administration has opened the door wide for Chinese infrastructure penetration across sensitive regions of the country,” it noted.
For the Indo-Pacific region, the report said, “this would mark yet another quiet but consequential shift in the balance of power, unfolding not through open confrontation, but through calculated alignment and gradual dependence.”
–IANS
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