Dhaka lays out the red carpet amid expanding regional military diplomacy under the Yunus administration
In a development reflecting the steady recalibration of Bangladesh’s regional defence diplomacy, Pakistan Army’s Director General of Joint Staff, Lieutenant General Tabassum Habib, arrives in Dhaka on 6 October on a four-day official visit hosted by the Armed Forces Division (AFD) under the office of Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus.
This is the highest-level Pakistani military visit to Bangladesh since the Yunus-led interim government assumed power in August 2024, following the ousting of the Sheikh Hasina administration. The trip signifies a notable revival of military-to-military engagement between the two South Asian nations, historically linked yet politically distant since 1971.
A Senior Pakistani Officer in Dhaka
Lt Gen Tabassum Habib currently serves as Director General of Joint Staff at Chaklala, Rawalpindi, where he oversees inter-service coordination among Pakistan’s Army, Navy and Air Force. He will lead a four-member delegation, including a Pakistan Navy commodore and a staff officer of the rank of major.
The visit is being organised under the supervision of the Armed Forces Division, headed by Lt Gen S M Kamrul Hassan, who himself visited Rawalpindi in January 2025. The AFD functions as Bangladesh’s joint defence coordination headquarters, managing strategic planning, training, operations and logistics among the three services, and assumes wartime joint command authority.
Programme and Engagements
The Pakistani delegation is scheduled to land at Shah Jalal International Airport late on 6 October, after which they will be escorted to Hotel Radisson Blu in the capital under full military protocol.
On 7 October, Lt Gen Habib will receive a guard of honour at Sena Kunjo before holding formal meetings with top Bangladeshi defence officials. He will first meet Lt Gen Kamrul Hassan at the AFD complex, followed by a one-on-one discussion with Bangladesh Army Chief Gen Waker-uz-Zaman at the Army Headquarters.
He is also expected to visit the Bangladesh Air Force and Bangladesh Navy Headquarters, where he will be hosted for a working lunch and dinner respectively.
On 8 October, the visiting general will deliver remarks at the National Defence College (NDC) in Mirpur, a premier military academic institution, before travelling to Cox’s Bazar to visit the 10th Infantry Division Headquarters at Ramu—a strategically vital formation responsible for Bangladesh’s southeastern frontier and coastal defence.
The Bangladesh Army will host a formal dinner that evening at Baywatch Hotel, Cox’s Bazar. Lt Gen Habib is expected to return to Islamabad on 9 October.
Revival of Defence Contacts
Lt Gen Habib’s arrival is part of a broader pattern of quiet military-level exchanges between Bangladesh and Pakistan throughout 2025. In January, two senior ISI officers—Maj Gen Shahid Amir Afsar and Maj Gen Alam Amir Awan—visited Dhaka. This was followed in June by a visit of three Pakistan Army brigadiers to the Bangladesh Army’s southern command installations, including Ramu.
More recently, three Pakistan Army major generals visited Dhaka, though details of their meetings were kept confidential. These exchanges indicate a deliberate reopening of communication channels between the two militaries, encouraged by the interim government’s pragmatic approach to foreign and defence policy.
Background of Bangladesh–Pakistan Military Relations
Formal defence cooperation between Bangladesh and Pakistan was minimal for decades following the 1971 Liberation War. However, professional military diplomacy gradually resumed in the early 2000s through participation in UN peacekeeping missions, joint training courses, and staff-level seminars hosted by the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad.
Although ties cooled again in the late 2010s, the current wave of exchanges marks the first sustained effort in nearly a decade to institutionalise professional contact between the two armed forces. For both sides, the renewed interaction serves practical, not ideological interests—knowledge exchange, defence education, and operational dialogue.
Lt Gen Tabassum Habib: Profile of a Professional Soldier
Commissioned into the Medium Regiment Artillery in 1991, Lt Gen Habib is a veteran officer with diverse command and staff experience. He previously served as General Officer Commanding of the 14th Infantry Division in Okara, Punjab, before being promoted to lieutenant general in November 2024, when he took charge as DG Joint Staff.
He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Quetta, the Joint Services Staff College, Shrivenham (UK), and the National Defence University, Islamabad. He holds multiple advanced degrees:
- MPhil in Public Policy and Strategic Security Management – NDU, Islamabad
- Master’s in Defence Studies – King’s College, London
- Master’s in Art and Science of Warfare – University of Balochistan
- Executive Education in Public Policy – Harvard Kennedy School
In addition to his military portfolio, Lt Gen Habib also heads Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC)—a military-led body designed to streamline national investment strategy and civil-military cooperation.
Strategic Significance
While Dhaka has officially termed the trip a “goodwill visit”, the symbolism is unmistakable. Bangladesh is signalling its intent to diversify defence relations beyond traditional partners such as India and China, engaging with regional actors like Pakistan and Türkiye on a professional, non-political basis.
A senior defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told bdmilitary.com:
“Bangladesh’s policy remains non-aligned and interest-based. We welcome constructive engagement with all regional militaries where it strengthens our operational understanding and joint learning.”
This pragmatic approach reflects Bangladesh’s founding foreign policy principle—“Friendship to all, malice toward none”—while also acknowledging the evolving security environment of South Asia, where India–China competition, Myanmar instability, and shifting U.S. interests are redefining traditional alignments.
Assessment
Lt Gen Tabassum Habib’s Dhaka visit represents more than ceremonial courtesy; it underscores Bangladesh’s reassertion of strategic autonomy and its pursuit of balanced defence diplomacy in a rapidly changing region. By engaging Pakistan’s senior military leadership under an interim, technocratic government, Dhaka demonstrates both confidence and pragmatism—a desire to broaden its military partnerships while safeguarding national interests.
Whether these engagements lead to formalised cooperation or remain at the symbolic level, one message is clear: Bangladesh intends to remain a sovereign actor in South Asia’s strategic chessboard, shaping its own path through professionalism, neutrality, and calibrated diplomacy.
