ISI chief in Dhaka to boost intelligence-sharing network between Bangladesh and Pakistan: Report

Activists protest against Bangladeshi former PM Hasina at University of Dhaka's TSC in Dhaka

ISI chief Lt Gen Asim Malik is visiting Bangladesh in what would be the first visit by the head of Pakistan intelligence agency to Dhaka in decades, according to a report by Economic Times.

Malik who reached Dhaka via Dubai on Tuesday was reportedly received by Lt Gen Muhammad Faizur Rahman, Quarter Master General (QMG) of Bangladesh Army. According to reports, Rahman is alleged to have close ties with Islamists and Pakistan.

The ET report stated that the ISI chief's visit to Dhaka is aimed at creating an intelligence-sharing network between the intelligence agencies of the two countries to create disturbances in India through cross-border subversive activities.

Recently Lt Gen SM Kamr-ul-Hassan, principal staff officer (PSO) of the armed forces division of Bangladesh, who is also the second-in-command of Bangladesh army, travelled to Islamabad. The Bangladesh army officer held separate meetings with Pakistan's chief of army staff Gen Syed Asim Munir and chairman joint chiefs of staff committee Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, according to Pakistan military's media wing. The discussions reportedly centred on emerging security challenges and enhancing bilateral military cooperation, according to the report, which cited a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media arm of the Pakistani military.

Without naming India, both generals had underscored the importance of a "stronger defence relationship", emphasising that the enduring partnership between the two nations must remain "resilient against external influences".

Dhaka and Islamabad have not favourably viewed their relationship for much of the 54 years since Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan.

The tension in their ties only deepened during the nearly 16-year rule of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power in August after mass protests and forced to flee to neighbouring India, which backed her government.

But since Hasina’s departure, Pakistan and Bangladesh have edged closer to each other in an apparent reset at a time when politics in both countries have a general anti-India sentiment, overriding the historical animosity between Islamabad and Dhaka.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh’s interim government, during an international summit in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, last month after the two also met in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.