By aligning with India’s adversaries, Bangladesh is playing a dangerous game of short-term gain and long-term risk. Strategic memory must not be replaced with strategic amnesia.

In recent years, Bangladesh appears to have drifted away from the very foundations that shaped its emergence as an independent nation. One cannot ignore the undeniable role India played in 1971—sheltering over 10 million refugees, offering critical military assistance, and even postponing its own Five-Year Plan to meet the urgent needs of the Bengali population. India diverted significant national resources to provide food, shelter, and medical aid during a time of internal economic strain. India’s support wasn’t transactional; it was moral, strategic, and humanitarian.

Yet today, those sacrifices and the spirit of 1971 seem to be fading from Bangladesh’s national memory, as it increasingly embraces countries that once stood against its very creation and now seek to undermine India’s interests in the region. Recently, India’s Deputy Army Chief, Lt Gen Rahul R Singh, made a striking revelation about the recent India–Pakistan clashes: “We had one border and two adversaries—actually three. Pakistan was the front face. China was providing all possible support… Turkey also played an important role in providing the type of support it did. When DGMO-level talks were on, Pakistan was getting live inputs of our deployment from China.”

These revelations underscored a troubling triad—China, Pakistan, and Turkey—working in tandem to undermine India’s strategic interests. Despite this, Dhaka has shown increasing comfort in expanding defense and intelligence cooperation with these very powers.

From historic brotherhood to strategic drift

Recently in July 2025, Turkey’s top defense official, HalukGorgun, visited Dhaka and met with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser, Mohammed Yunus, and senior military leadership to discuss deeper strategic collaboration. This was........

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