After cancelling a planned visit to China in late June, Bangladesh’s Army chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, is now set for a three-day official trip to Beijing from August 22 to 25. The visit, to be closely monitored by the US State Department and the American security establishment, comes at a time when the Bangladesh Army is expected to receive significant logistical supplies that will, according to military sources, be quietly passed to the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
US agencies have said almost nothing that would suggest that preparations are underway to extend this clandestine help to the Arakan Army, which seeks to launch a military offensive on the three remaining townships—Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Manaung—still held by Myanmar military junta troops. However, Bangladesh military sources say that, despite the silence on the secretive American involvement, the impending operations—along the 270-km Bangladesh-Myanmar border—are likely to begin once the monsoon subsides in the mountainous terrain.
Earlier, the controversial idea of a “humanitarian corridor”, supposedly proposed by the United Nations and swiftly embraced by Bangladesh’s interim government and National Security Adviser (NSA) Khalilur Rahman, triggered opposition from the main political party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as well as from Gen Zaman. So controversial was the issue that when Gen Zaman publicly opposed the plan in the third week of May, declaring there would be no “bloody corridor”, it was then quietly buried. Also dropped was an Armed Forces Division (AFD) suggestion under the Chief Adviser’s Office, to declare the stretch between Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar a “military operations zone”.
Bangladesh Military sources said Gen Zaman is “wary of tags and names” that could directly affect Bangladesh’s sovereignty and “have grave political and security implications”. Still, the Army’s top brass is “not opposed to US plans” for operations in Rakhine State.
Relations between Gen Zaman and NSA Rahman are strained. Rahman’s appointment in April — just days after meeting his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, in Bangkok — was met with disapproval from the Army chief, who has long exercised substantial control over both internal and external security affairs. Rahman’s push for a humanitarian corridor was firmly rejected by Gen Zaman, who might back a cross-border operation only if it remains entirely covert.
The US deep state, particularly security officials based in Doha, Qatar, is now exploring a sea-based supply route. This would involve securing a navigation channel in the Bay of Bengal suitable for motherships to offload supplies onto smaller vessels, which would then transport them closer to Rakhine’s coast for transfer to the Arakan Army.
There have also been preliminary discussions between US and Bangladeshi officials about using Bangladesh’s only submarine base at Maheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh operates two ageing Chinese-made Type 035G (Ming-class) diesel-electric submarines, acquired in 2016 and stationed at Pekua, near Maheshkhali.
Gen Zaman’s China visit—initiated by the People’s Liberation Army and arranged by the Bangladesh Army’s Directorate of Weaponry and Systems (DWE&S)—comes at a time when US officials are pressing Dhaka to sign two defence pacts: the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) and the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). The AFD argues these “fundamental defence frameworks” could enhance Bangladesh’s logistical and technological capabilities without undermining its neutrality. But Gen Zaman has delayed signing, wary of antagonising China, historically Bangladesh’s main arms supplier.
In May, representatives from the Army’s Infantry, Aviation, Artillery, Signals, Ordnance, Engineers, Armoured, Military Operations, Military Intelligence and Military Training directorates met at the DWE&S conference room to chalk out the details of Gen Zaman’s China visit.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh is also deepening ties with Turkey, with discussions underway on the purchase of Turkish weapons and the establishment of assembly and manufacturing units at two potential sites near the capital city of Dhaka.
In late July, the Bangladesh Navy signed an agreement with Turkish defence manufacturer Canik (SYS Group) to procure Venom LR 30mm remote-controlled weapons systems and M2 QCB 12.7mm heavy machine guns. The Navy also recently received a consignment of US-made RQ-21A Blackjack small tactical unmanned aerial systems, capable of operating over land and sea without a runway.
Amid this, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim regime — and the Army establishment in particular — must contend with an Indian security bureaucracy that has maintained a stoic silence over the Bangladesh military’s growing independence and assertiveness. Since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, India’s security and military establishments have stood by, largely helpless, as Bangladesh’s defence forces have moved swiftly into the embrace of new partners in Turkey, Pakistan and the United States.
Bangladesh has several suitors at present, but questions remain over the intended use and targets of its armed forces’ newly acquired hardware and assets. These developments will undoubtedly make India’s defence and security establishments distinctly uneasy. Yet, so long as the US deep state continues to wield influence in Dhaka, New Delhi has little room to act. It is a predicament of its own making, born of allowing Washington to execute its regime change plan in Bangladesh — and one whose consequences it must now endure.
