Handed green flag by Yunus, Pak Foreign Minister huddled with radical Islamists in Dhaka

Dhaka: Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar's two-day official visit to Dhaka has proven once again that Bangladesh has emerged as a key location where the interests of four countries - China, Pakistan, the United States and Turkey - converge.

Dar's trip - the first by a Pakistani Foreign Minister to Bangladesh since 2012, was also supposed to focus on three longstanding and unresolved issues between both countries related to the 1971 Liberation War: A formal apology from Pakistan for the genocide; repatriation of stranded Pakistanis and Bangladesh’s rightful share of pre-1971 undivided assets.

On Sunday, after holding a meeting with Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain, Dar openly claimed that two out of three unresolved issues related to 1971, including an apology for the genocide, have already been settled twice.

Dhaka's financial claim from Islamabad is to the tune of USD $4.32 billion as a fair share from the assets of undivided Pakistan before 1971. Moreover, Bangladesh has also demanded USD $200 million received as foreign aid from countries and agencies to then East Pakistan during the extremely deadly November 1970 Bhola cyclone.

Dhaka also demanded a formal apology from Islamabad for the atrocities committed before and during the Liberation War but Islamabad has shown no propensity to do so. Dar's visit to Dhaka reinforced this. Bangladesh’s historical truth was dismissed and rebuffed with gumption by the Pakistani Foreign Minister.

The path forward is clear. Spineless, weak-willed pro-Pakistan leaning Muhammad Yunus administration is veering away from historical truths in the name of transcending bitter legacies and building a mutually beneficial relationship.

Dar held meetings with leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI-BD) and National Citizen Party (NCP) soon after his arrival in Dhaka. He also praised the NCP leadership’s vision for reform and social justice, stressing the importance of greater interaction between the youth of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Later, he met a JeI delegation led by Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher. Discussions focused on strengthening Pakistan-Bangladesh relations and recent regional developments.

A six-member delegation of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) also held a meeting with the visiting Foreign Minister on Saturday. All the meetings were held at the High Commission of Pakistan in Dhaka. Next day, Dar called on Chief Adviser Yunus and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.

During his entire stay, Dar lacked courage to speak for Awami League, the largest secular and democratic political force in Bangladesh which played a historic role in the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Both sides signed an agreement to exempt visa requirements for holders of official and diplomatic passports. In addition, MoUs were signed on forming a joint working group on trade, cooperation between the two foreign service academies, collaboration between the national news agencies Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation (APPC), and an institutional partnership between the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI). A cultural exchange programme was also signed to promote people-to-people ties.

Among the MoUs signed, the collaboration between the news agencies of Bangladesh and Pakistan is an interesting development. Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation (APPC) is a state-run news agency of Pakistan. In some time, among other languages, Bengali will also be added as one of the languages in the APPC. Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) provides financial support to APPC. In July 2022, TIKA renovated the Urdu News Service at APPC. It is relevant to mention that Turkish state-run media outlets like Anadolu Agency and TRT, which once hired Western journalists are now witnessing an influx of Pakistani nationals with robust doctrinal propensities.

Pakistan has made similar moves with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Dispatch News Desk News Agency (DND) accredited by the Pakistan government had signed a MoU with Azerbaijan based Eurasia Media Network, operating under International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF). Controlling the media would give a handle to promote policies and strategies of Pakistan in Bangladesh and vice-versa. Quite understandably, it will have strong Pakistani ideological leanings which will benefit the radical Islamists in Bangladesh. Soon, the BSS will have Pakistani journalists reflecting Islamabad-Dhaka camaraderie, which may be a well-orchestrated move by the media wing of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The intent is to amplify Pakistani geopolitical interests, challenge India and use Pakistan's soft power as a megaphone for radical Islam. The tragic consequences will be the media radicalization and the cultural loss within Bangladesh. Pakistan's intentions in Bangladesh are divisive that stem from several key areas. These include Pakistan's role in the 1971 genocide, its refusal to offer a formal apology, and its continued alleged interference in Bangladesh's internal affairs, including diplomatic spats over war crimes trials, particularly during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's period.

Pakistan being a "theocratic state" will try to end the already-fractured secularism in Bangladesh which has been one of the four founding principles of the country since it got liberated from Pakistan in 1971.

The so-called "progressive" Chief Advisor Yunus is damaging and destroying the secular credentials of Bangladesh and getting rid of secularism, thereby making Bangladesh a fertile field for religious extremism and struggle for theocracy.

India has to be quite watchful and vigilant. New Delhi and may even have to increase its listening posts - Human intelligence (HUMINT), Signals intelligence (SIGINT), Communications intelligence (COMINT) and Electronic intelligence (ELINT) - all along the border with Bangladesh to monitor and intercept anti-India activities. From August 2024, there has been a rise in anti-India sentiments and increased activity by radical groups with alleged ties to Pakistan's ISI. The security environment has become less predictable, reviving longstanding Indian concerns over cross-border threats from its eastern neighbour.

Additionally, Pakistan could leverage the situation by positioning its non-state actors in Bangladesh, making them mingle with Rohingya refugees and working in conjunction with the radical-Islamist coterie promoting anti-India activities.

(The writer is an expert on South Asia and Eurasia. He was formerly with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Views expressed are personal)

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