Bangladesh–Pakistan Army Cooperation: Confronting the Common Indian Threat

Reading Time: 3 minutes For over half a century, India has sought to consolidate dominance in South Asia through coercion, pressure, and selective intervention. Its military doctrine has consistently cast Pakistan as the principal adversary while treating Bangladesh as a peripheral buffer to be kept under strategic influence. Today, as India pursues an ambitious military modernisation and increasingly assertive foreign policy, the armies of Bangladesh and Pakistan face a common challenge that cannot be ignored. The historical record illustrates this reality. India’s intervention in 1971 was driven by strategic calculation rather than altruism, aimed at permanently weakening Pakistan and reshaping the regional balance. In the years since, New Delhi has repeatedly interfered in Bangladeshi domestic affairs, supported insurgent movements along the border, and exerted pressure over trade and water disputes. With Pakistan, the story is marked by open wars, skirmishes, and constant diplomatic friction. For both Dhaka and Islamabad, the