Canberra, May 30 (IANS) Bangladesh’s foreign policy has long been guided by the principle of “friendship towards all, malice towards none”, yet a commitment of up to USD 720 million to a Sino-Pakistani aviation system, amid economic fragility and geopolitical realignment, severely tests that doctrine.

It also raises questions about the quality of the national conversation, given that a decision of this magnitude, with long-term implications for Bangladesh’s strategic posture, fiscal space, and geopolitical relationships, requires rigorous parliamentary scrutiny, independent economic analysis, and open public debate, a report has highlighted.

“In May 2026, a Pakistan Air Force C-130J landed quietly in Dhaka carrying a single heavy crate. Inside was a full-scale JF-17 Thunder Block III combat simulator — the first piece of Pakistani military aviation hardware to enter Bangladesh since 1971. The simulator, delivered during the first formal Air Staff Talks between the two air forces, is being framed as a training tool ahead of a potential procurement of 16 to 48 JF-17 Block III multirole fighters, estimated at between USD 400 and 720 million,” a report in the Australian Institute of International Affairs detailed.

According to the report, policymakers and defence commentators have largely focused on the operational considerations, noting that “the Bangladesh Air Force’s fleet is ageing; its F-7BGs and MiG-29s are approaching end of life; and the Forces Goal 2030 modernisation plan demands credible air power.”

Stressing that the operational logic is limited in its scope, it said that the move overlooks the political alignments implied by such procurement, the long-term fiscal burdens it would entail, and the strategic consequences of tying Bangladesh’s defence future to a Sino-Pakistani supply chain at a time of severe economic vulnerabilities.

“A fighter jet is never merely a weapons platform. It is a political instrument, an economic commitment, and, over the long arc of defence dependency projects, a statement of alignment that outlasts governments. Bangladesh is not simply buying an aircraft. It may be buying into a strategic orbit from which exit will be difficult, expensive, and diplomatically consequential,” the report noted.

Highlighting the wider implications, the report said, “The JF-17 is a Sino-Pakistani product: conceived to reduce Pakistan’s dependence on Western suppliers and jointly manufactured by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. Its sale to Bangladesh is therefore not a bilateral transaction between Dhaka and Islamabad; in structural terms, it is a trilateral one, with Beijing as the quiet principal.”

–IANS

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