Bangladesh opens the door for Chinese and Pakistani defence companies

The Government of Bangladesh and the Armed Forces Division have unofficially opened the door for Chinese defence manufacturers to participate in the supply of defence equipment to the military forces of Bangladesh as well as pursue joint ventures and transfer of technology concerning critical military hardware. Under the previous Awami League (AL) regime, the Chinese companies were thwarted from participating in many lucrative defence contracts along with Pakistan, whereas Indian defence suppliers such as Tata, GRSE and others were actively selling defence equipment, albeit in smaller quantities to the armed forces through lobbying by the Government of India. The reversal has been initiated with Indian companies virtually blacklisted from undertaking any further defence cooperation with Bangladesh on national security grounds. Moreover, it has been learnt China is interested to provide the Bangladesh armed forces with multi-role combat aircraft, long range strike missiles, air defence systems, unmanned vehicles and sensors. Pakistani