From Karachi flights to JF-17 talks: Bangladesh opens skies and defence doors to Pakistan. Who is it trying to provoke?

(FILES) Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (L) speaks with Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the D-8 summit in Cairo on December 19, 2024.

Bangladesh is strengthening ties with Pakistan through renewed air links, defense talks, increased trade, and diplomatic engagement, raising security concerns in India as relations with Dhaka cool and Pakistan seeks greater influence in the region.

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Bangladesh’s slow but unmistakable pivot towards Pakistan is no longer a matter of speculation. Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assuming charge, Dhaka’s foreign and security posture has undergone a recalibration that is raising serious red flags in New Delhi.

What was once projected as a pragmatic reset is now beginning to look like a strategic realignment. From defence cooperation to trade and connectivity, Bangladesh and Pakistan are rebuilding ties that many in India believed had been permanently relegated to history. For India, especially its vulnerable eastern flank and the North-East, this growing proximity is not just diplomatically uncomfortable. It is a direct security concern.

Dhaka-Karachi air link returns after a decade

The most visible symbol of this reset is the resumption of direct air connectivity between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Biman Bangladesh Airlines will restart non-stop flights between Dhaka and Karachi from January 29, ending a gap of more than ten years. Initially, the airline will operate twice weekly, on Thursdays and Saturdays.

The outbound flight will leave Dhaka at 8:00 pm local time and land in Karachi at 11:00 pm, with the return departing at midnight and arriving in Dhaka at 4:20 am. Until now, passengers had to rely on circuitous routes via Doha or Dubai. Discussions on restarting direct flights had been ongoing for months and were first floated after Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to Dhaka last August.

What remains unclear is whether these flights will use Indian airspace, since the shortest route passes through central India. Either way, the restoration of direct air links marks a political statement as much as a logistical one.

Bangladesh eyes Pakistan’s JF-17 jets

Even more worrying for India is the emerging defence dimension. On January 6, the air force chiefs of Pakistan and Bangladesh met in Islamabad, the first such meeting in years. Following the talks, Pakistan announced that Bangladesh had expressed “potential interest” in procuring the JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft.

The JF-17 is a lightweight combat jet jointly developed by China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. Pakistan used the aircraft extensively during last May’s conflict with India. Reflecting on Operation Sindoor, Indian Air Force chief AP Singh said in October that India had shot down at least four to five Pakistani aircraft, mostly from the F-16 and JF-17 class.

Pakistan’s military media wing ISPR said Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu and his Bangladeshi counterpart discussed procurement of the JF-17, training and maintenance support. “Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu…reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to supporting Bangladesh air force through a comprehensive training framework from basic to advanced flying and specialised courses across PAF institutions,” the statement said.

The JF-17, however, has a chequered safety record. It has been involved in multiple crashes since 2011, including a fatal accident. In June 2024, a Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Block 2 crashed during a routine training flight in Punjab’s Jhang district.

A broader Pakistan-Bangladesh embrace

Flights and fighter jets are only part of a wider trend. Since Hasina’s removal in 2024, trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh has surged. Between August and December 2024, bilateral trade jumped by 27 per cent, followed by a further 20 percent year-on-year increase by December 2025.

In November 2024, a cargo vessel from Karachi docked at Bangladesh’s southeastern coast, marking the first direct maritime link between the two countries since the 1971 Liberation War. Visa rules have been eased, with officials and diplomats now enjoying visa-free entry, and Pakistan waiving visa fees for Bangladeshi travellers.

Diplomatic engagement has also intensified. Foreign Secretary level talks were held in April 2025 for the first time in 15 years, followed by Ishaq Dar’s visit to Dhaka in August 2025, his first since 2012. Defence cooperation has expanded too, with Bangladesh ordering fresh supplies of artillery ammunition from Pakistan.

India’s growing alarm

This renewed warmth with Pakistan coincides with a downturn in India-Bangladesh relations. New Delhi has publicly raised concerns over the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh, allegations that the Yunus administration has rejected. But for India, the larger issue is strategic.

Former Indian diplomat Veena Sikri told Moneycontrol that Bangladesh risks drifting into Pakistan’s strategic orbit in ways that could seriously endanger India’s eastern security architecture. Pakistan’s goal, she said, is unmistakable. “That is the objective of Pakistan, definitely,” Sikri said. “They want to bring Bangladesh to the pre-1971 level, when they had command and control.”

Analysts warn that Yunus’s tenure has provided Pakistan an opening it had long sought. As India Foundation research fellow Pavan Chaurasia noted, the coming months will be decisive. For India, he said, it is a phase of “wait and watch” while reinforcing border security.

For New Delhi, the concern is clear. A Bangladesh that draws closer to Pakistan is not merely recalibrating its diplomacy. It is reopening old fault lines in South Asia, with consequences that India cannot afford to ignore.