Sheikh Hasina's India visit: What's new in Dhaka, Delhi defence tie?

The relations between Bangladesh and Indian armies began in 1971 when Indian soldiers and Bangladeshi Muktijodhhas fought shoulder-to-shoulder and shed blood together for the common cause to liberate Bangladesh.

The two neighbours’ armed forces have been conducting joint exercises and training programme for quite a long time, and the latest exercise took place last year in Tangail focusing on counter-terrorism.

They also have collaboration in a field called ‘port calling’ under which each other’s ships can drop anchor in listed ports and remain moored for a period.

Moreover, joint research and rescue operation in the high sea, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, technical training, capacity building of experts, and advance the medical treatment of Bangladesh defence personnel in India are among the areas of ongoing cooperation.

High-level defence visits are normal phenomena. The chief of navy and air force, Border Guard Bangladesh and Coast Guard of Bangladesh visited India last year. The first ever visit of the Indian defence minister also took place in November.

Both sides’ border forces are conducting coordinated border management while coast guards have developed a standard operating procedure, SOP, for cooperation.

There has been a significant bilateral collaboration between the two countries in the areas of cyber security, IT, space and nuclear energy.

Despite having this extended cooperation, the issue of defence pact comes to the centre of political debate ahead of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ‘state visit’ to India from April 7 after seven years. What’s new?

“It is an undisputed fact that two armed forces collaborate with each other in many fields. But there is no bilateral document in this regard.”

“Both the countries are considering to institutionalise the existing mechanism and streamline the ongoing cooperation between the two forces.”

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Talking to the bdnews24.com diplomats, academics and foreign relations experts expressed the views mentioned above.

Some believe that in the absence of the bilateral documents, it’s not always possible to take further advantage of the mutual camaraderie of two friendly countries in the defence sphere and to carry forward the existing cooperation.

The proposal to make mutual understanding in defence cooperation is being interpreted as a logical next step in a bilateral cooperation between both the countries.

The Indian side is known to have assured that any progress in the defence sector will be done at the ‘comfort level’ of Bangladesh. There is no ‘element’ to press for which Bangladesh may find not suitable to its need.

Both Dhaka and New Delhi earlier indicated that the visit would be heavily focused on development projects.

India, which already promised a $3 billion line of credit, is planning to extend another in the tune of $4 billion or more during the visit to fund dozens of development projects.

Some $200 million from the first line of credit was later converted to a grant for Padma Setu Project.

The new line of credit is likely to be extended to the defence sector also.

The major opposition party BNP and its allies have raised questions about the intention of the proposed security cooperation. They also said that Bangladesh would lose its independent character and become a ‘tributary state’ of India if any defence deal was signed.

"This is nothing more than a rhetoric and those who know the domestic political dynamics understand where it is coming from,” said a political commentator, asserting that Bangladesh forces or the government would not stomach any restrictions whatsoever attached to the line of credit.

“It’ll be up to Bangladesh side to decide whether they will take it or how they will spend the credit. And, there will be no timeframe for using the credit”.

Bangladeshi military analyst Major General Md Abdur Rashid (retd), Executive Director of the Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies (ICLDS), also found those discussions “illogical” and “mere propaganda”.

As per available reports, India had offered such line of credit to other countries who mostly used it for getting UN peacekeeping equipment such as medical equipment, disaster relief material and equipment, search and rescue equipment, humanitarian assistance, etc.

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Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Seychelles have procured military equipment from India. Many UN contingent has vehicles and equipment from Indian companies and is currently using it in the missions and operations abroad.

Another aspect of the proposed defence document is cooperation in the field of training and capacity building. India has positively considered all requests for training from Bangladesh.

Both the countries are working together to broadening bilateral defence cooperation. India has always been helpful and supportive in the capacity building process of Bangladesh’s defence forces since their raising during 1971. The first helicopters and ships of Bangladesh forces were from India.

Now the capacity and capability of Bangladesh’s defence forces are improving and meeting that demand of technical and logistic support, Bangladesh may consider establishing training, manufacturing and maintenance centres within the country. India is known to have proposed cooperation in this regard as well.

Bangladesh’s armed forces are predominantly equipped with Chinese military hardware.

Army’s tanks and fighters are of Chinese origin. Navy’s frigates and patrol crafts are mostly Chinese. Air force’s combat aircraft are all Chinese. This month, the Navy has inducted its first set of submarines bought from China.

Bangladesh and China signed the defence cooperation agreement in December 2002 during the then prime minister BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s visit. Unlike the MOU under consideration with India, this was an agreement, with larger binding and strategic implications.

After the settlement of the maritime dispute, the blue economy has also become a domain of cooperation between India and Bangladesh.

Like the land border, managing the demand for enhanced security along the maritime border in the Bay of Bengal is a “collective responsibility” of Bangladesh and India.

Both the countries would like to maintain peace in the Bay of Bengal to harness the potential of the blue economy.

“Both the countries would be better off not allowing any third party to create any dispute. We want a peaceful environment in the neighbourhood and the region,” a political expert asserted in an oblique reference that India would not allow China’s presence in the Bay.

India is the fifth nation to have these ballistic missile defence capabilities in the world, says government official. File Photo: REUTERS

Both the countries are looking forward to a broad-based defence cooperation considering the excellent friendly bilateral relations, experts have commented.

The whole approach is not project based or supply based. This would be completely demand-driven and based on mutual understanding. In this regard, both the sides have a good scope of collaboration in many aspects.

The Narendra Modi government has taken ‘Make in India’ policy of which defence is also a focus area. Last year, they organised a defence expo in Goa where Bangladesh delegation also took part.

Modi has liberalised foreign investment in the defence sector and is encouraging Indian companies to be part of the global weapon supply chain. More steps are underway to promote the indigenous development of military platforms.

Abdur Rashid, the ICLDS Executive Director, said there are political aspects of the ongoing debate on the proposed defence cooperation.

“For some ‘parties’ anti-India propaganda matters. It’s a vote bank for them,” he told bdnews24.com, indicating BNP’s comment.

“We have cooperation in so many aspects of the armed forces, and I think India wants to make a framework agreement of the existing relations..to give those a formal shape,” he said.

“I don’t find a problem in any deal as long as it does not limit the sovereign decision-making capacity of Bangladesh. There is no such element in the proposed deal in my knowledge. So, I don’t find any problem in it”.

The prime minister during her three-day visit to India will also honour those soldiers and their families who fought in 1971.