Roving Periscope: Now, India has two Pakistan-s on its flanks

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: On a day India suspended the exchange of all mail and parcel services with Islamabad through air and surface routes, it emerged that “East Pakistan” (also known as Bangladesh!) fully supports its erstwhile tormentor “West Pakistan” and has even threatened to occupy northeastern India if New Delhi attacked Islamabad.

Major-General (Retd) ALM Fazlur Rahman, a former Bangladesh army officer and a close aide of Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, has suggested that Dhaka should collaborate with China to occupy India’s northeastern states if it attacks Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

As expected, Yunus’ Interim Government on Friday distanced itself from Rahman’s “suggestions” on his social media account but did not take any action against him because they reflected Dhaka’s official strategy against India. What Rahman did was a trial balloon to test the waters in the Bay of Bengal.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Yunus’ Man Friday wrote in Bengali, “If India attacks Pakistan, Bangladesh should occupy the seven states of Northeastern India.”

“I think it is necessary to start discussions with China on a joint military arrangement in this regard,” he added.

Rahman, a fierce Islamist fundamentalist like Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir, was appointed by Yunus, who has the dubious distinction of being a Nobel Peace Laureate, in December 2024 as the Chairman of the National Independent Commission assigned to investigate the killings in the Bangladesh Rifles revolt of 2009.

Distancing itself from the former army officer’s remarks, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a media release, on Friday claimed that, “The comments do not reflect the position or policies of the government of Bangladesh, and as such, the government neither endorses nor supports such rhetoric in any form or manner.”

The Islamist government urged all concerned to refrain from associating the state with the personal views expressed by Rahman, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

Bangladesh remains firmly committed to the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, mutual respect, and the peaceful coexistence of all nations, the ministry claimed.

Earlier in March, the 84-year-old Yunus, who has tasted both Islamism and political power for the first time, had remarked during his visit to China that India’s seven northeastern states, which share a nearly 1,600-km border with Bangladesh, are landlocked and have no way to reach the ocean except through his country.

Addressing a business event in China, he claimed that Dhaka was the “only guardian” of the Indian Ocean in the region, as he invited Beijing to send goods through Bangladesh across the world.

His comments did not go down well in New Delhi, and also drew sharp reactions from political leaders across party lines.

Days after Yunus’ controversial remarks, India in April withdrew the transhipment facility it had granted to Bangladesh for exporting goods to the Middle East, Europe and various other countries except Nepal and Bhutan.

Bangladesh has for long been using several Indian ports and airports for its exports to West Asia, Europe, and many other countries. India exempted Bangladeshi exports to Nepal and Bhutan, as such trade facilitation is mandatory for landlocked countries under the framework of provisions of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

India-Bangladesh relation nosedived after Yunus failed to contain attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in that country after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in August 2024.

Meanwhile, as part of its ongoing measures to tame a recalcitrant Pakistan, India on Saturday suspended exchange of mail, parcel services with Islamabad through air and surface routes.

The suspension order was issued by the Department of Posts which is part of the Ministry of Communication. It suspended exchange of all categories of mail and parcels from Pakistan amid escalating tensions between the two nations over the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

Citing “cross-border linkages” to the horrific attack, India has promised severe punishment to those involved in the strike.