India’s Faltering Defence Diplomacy in Bangladesh: A Catalogue of Disasters

Reading Time: 4 minutes India’s repeated attempts to position itself as a principal defence partner for Bangladesh have consistently fallen short—revealing a troubling mismatch between New Delhi’s ambitions and Dhaka’s expectations. While framed publicly as goodwill gestures or strategic cooperation through concessional Lines of Credit (LoCs), India’s so-called “defence offerings” have mostly comprised outdated, ill-suited, or tokenistic equipment that added little value to Bangladesh’s modernisation efforts. Over time, these overtures have backfired, painting India in a poor light before both the Bangladeshi military establishment and broader strategic circles. Even under the previous, pro-Indian regime in Dhaka—prior to the political realignment of August 2024—many of these offers were quietly rejected, side-lined, or left unused. The professional assessments of Bangladesh’s armed services consistently found these Indian systems to be redundant or tactically obsolete, raising uncomfortable questions about the sincerity of India’s so-called military cooperation. One of the most glaring examples was the