China arms Bangladesh with rifles, rocket launchers, MANPADs, military vehicles and more, reveals new report

Yunus will visit China on March 26.

China-Bangladesh military agreement: China has provided Bangladesh with a large quantity of weapons. Most of these weapons have been supplied according to Bangladesh’s geographical needs. A significant portion of these weapons was received after the coup against Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh.

According to a research paper, China has transferred several military technologies to Bangladesh in addition to weapons. China’s aim is to make Bangladesh militarily capable enough to create trouble for India at the border. The research paper titled “China’s National Image in Bangladesh” was published on Tuesday.

Former professor of Dhaka University and executive director of the Center for Alternatives, Imtiaz Ahmed, Chinese ambassador Yao Wen, and others participated in the inauguration ceremony of the research paper organized by the Center for Alternatives at a hotel in Dhaka.

This comes weeks ahead of Bangladesh’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus’ visit to China. If everything goes according to plan, Yunus will visit China on March 26. He is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 28. Beijing has transferred technology for small and medium-sized weapons such as rifles, rocket launchers, MANPADs, light utility vehicles, etc to Bangladesh Ordnance Factories and Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Ltd, helping to achieve the goal of creating a domestic defence industrial base, the research paper said.

China also provided patrol vessels to Bangladesh. The report states, “In 2012, with the assistance of China, the Bangladesh Navy inducted its first domestically built patrol vessel, constructed at Khulna Shipyard Limited, into its fleet.” It mentions that there has been no change in relations between the two countries even after the change of power in August. It notes that in October, the People’s Liberation Army Navy sent two of its warships to Chittagong port for a goodwill visit.

Military ties remain intact even after the coup in Bangladesh.

The report states that this symbolizes the continuity of defense relations despite the change of power in Dhaka. It noted that this was the first visit of a foreign naval vessel since the interim government came to power, and that the interim government expressed a desire to further strengthen defense and security cooperation with China. The research paper also mentioned that at a seminar in Dhaka in October, Foreign Affairs Advisor Mohammad Touhid Hossain emphasized the government’s desire to continue bilateral defense cooperation, confirming that Bangladesh seeks more defense collaboration with China and considers defense cooperation an essential component of bilateral relations.

The China-Bangladesh military agreement paper states that the two countries signed a defense cooperation agreement in 2002, including military training and defense production.