A retired Bangladeshi military officer, Major General (Retd) ALM Fazlur Rahman, has drawn sharp criticism after suggesting Bangladesh should join forces with China to seize India’s northeastern states if India retaliates against Pakistan over the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
Fazlur Rahman’s remarks, made on Facebook, were swiftly condemned by Dhaka, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizing they do not represent government policy and reaffirming Bangladesh’s commitment to peaceful regional relations.
The comments come amid a downturn in India-Bangladesh ties, following interim leader Muhammad Yunus’s remarks about Dhaka’s strategic role in northeastern India and India’s subsequent revocation of a key trade privilege for Bangladesh.
Not just this, during a four-day visit to China in late March 2025, Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s interim Chief Adviser, made remarks positioning Bangladesh as a strategic maritime gateway for India’s northeastern region, often referred to as the “Seven Sisters.” He highlighted that these Indian states are landlocked and suggested that Bangladesh could serve as their access point to the sea.
Yunus invited China to invest in Bangladesh, proposing that the country could act as an extension of the Chinese economy by facilitating production and trade routes. These comments were made in the context of Bangladesh signing nine agreements with China, covering areas such as infrastructure, media, culture, and health.
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