Dhaka, May 12 (IANS) Bangladesh and Pakistan began their first-ever Air Staff talks in Dhaka, days after Bangladeshi security agencies reportedly cracked down on a large Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) module within the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF), a report detailed on Tuesday.

Citing official documents, ‘Northeast News’ reported that a five-member delegation of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officers led by Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed arrived in Dhaka on May 10 for a five-day visit.

“Two weeks ago, sweeping raids and investigations across Bangladesh, especially at three BAF airbases and installations, led to the arrest of at least two squadron leaders and several non-commissioned officers (NCOs) for their alleged involvement with the TTP. Many other BAF NCOs were detained,” the report stated.

“While the BAF made no official statement on the raids and subsequent investigations, it is learnt that court martial proceedings have begun against the arrested officers and NCOs,” it added.

Despite punitive action against the suspect BAF, the report said that Bangladeshi bureaucrats have continued to visit Islamabad for training purposes, while Pakistani officials travelled to Dhaka on pre-arranged visits.

Amid the ongoing talks, it said, the Indian defence establishment is expected to closely observe the PAF team’s visit for the first-ever bilateral staff-level meeting titled ‘1st Air Staff Talk (AST)’.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, Editor of the Bangladeshi newspaper ‘Blitz’, said that the Pakistani delegation’s visit comes amid “rapid expansion” of Pakistan’s military-intelligence activities in Bangladesh following the August 2024 political transition in Dhaka.

Expressing concern over the visit, Choudhury, an expert in counterterrorism and regional geopolitics, took to his social media platform X and posted: “What makes the visit particularly alarming is the profile of the visiting official himself. Air Vice Marshal Ahmed is not merely a routine military bureaucrat. He currently serves as Director General Public Relations of the Pakistan Air Force, Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations), and Commander of the Air Force Strategic Command.”

“More significantly, he emerged as one of the principal public faces of Pakistan’s anti-India military propaganda during and after India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ in May 2025. His presence in Dhaka, therefore, cannot be viewed in isolation or dismissed as ceremonial military diplomacy,” he added.

Choudhury claimed that Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) has significantly intensified its activities across multiple sectors in Bangladesh since August 2024, following the ouster of the country’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Citing sources, he said the Pakistani activities include expansion of anti-India propaganda infrastructure, coordination and facilitation of operatives linked to terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), increased deployment of social media bot networks to counter anti-Pakistan narratives and attempts to consolidate pro-Pakistan Islamist elements in Bangladesh.

Highlighting the renewed ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh, Choudhury said, “For India, the concern is not merely about conventional military cooperation between Dhaka and Islamabad. Rather, the larger issue revolves around whether Bangladesh is gradually being repositioned as a strategic rear base for Pakistan’s long-term asymmetric agenda against India’s vulnerable eastern corridor.”

–IANS

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