Bangladesh and India yesterday signed four memorandums of understanding (MoUs), taking the relationships between the two neighbouring countries to a new height. During Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s landmark visit to Delhi, the two countries signed the MoUs on defence cooperation framework; defence services staff colleges between the two nations; national defence colleges; and defence line of credit of $500 million.
The Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in Tamil Nadu and the Defence Services Command and Staff College at Mirpur in Dhaka signed MoU to increase cooperation in the field of strategic and operational studies. An MoU was also signed between the National Defence College in Dhaka and the National Defence College in New Delhi to enhance cooperation in the fields of national security, development and strategic studies. The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi also announced USD 500 million for buying military equipment.
According to a report of the Indian Defence Research Wing (IDRW), Bangladesh will use the USD 500 million line of credit to buy spares for MiG-29S fighters, and explore purchasing MiG-35 for the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) from Russia.
In March 2017, the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) said the MiG-35 was the favourite to win the recently announced tender for eight multi-role fighters for the Bangladesh Air Force, the IDRW report added.
In instant reaction to The Independent, Bangladesh’s two former army chiefs expressed different views on the defence cooperation between Bangladesh and India.
Former Chief of Army Staff Maj. Gen. (retd.) Kazi Mohammad (KM) Shafiullah Bir Uttam saw the signing of the MoU on defence cooperation framework in a positive way.  “I don’t see anything wrong in it, as we already have defence cooperation, especially in training between the Bangladesh military and the Indian defence forces,” Shafiullah, also a former planning minister, said.
About the USD 500-million line of credit to purchase defence materials, the first army chief of Bangladesh, Shafiullah, and a former Member of Parliament of the Bangladesh Awami League, said: “It is a political and technical matter.”
Another former army chief, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Mahbubur Rahman, said: “Relations between the Bangladesh and Indian armies are bonded in blood. We are brothers since the country’s Independence War. They paid with their blood to help us achieve independence. Why should there be a pact between brothers that provide an opportunity to the critics?”
About the USD 500-million line of credit, Mahbubur Rahman, also a member of the standing committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said: “They (India) can provide money for our development. I don’t understand why they are giving it for purchasing armaments, since we are not a war-mongering nation.”
After the MoU on defence cooperation framework was signed, the senior military officer said it is the first defence deal between the two neighbours.
On March 13, The Independent published a news report titled ‘Focus on expansion of military ties’ and elaborately explained the draft MoU on the defence cooperation framework. Clause 2 of the MoU relating to defence cooperation says: “Both sides will take steps for sending military delegations to each other’s country on the basis of mutual understanding and convenience.”