Pakistan’s attempts to reignite cross-border militancy may be taking a new and dangerous turn, this time from Bangladesh. In recent weeks, multiple intelligence reports and extremist speeches have pointed to an alarming convergence between Pakistan’s deep state, radical clerics, and the interim government in Dhaka. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives are reportedly exploring Bangladesh as a launchpad for terror strikes against India, a country already reeling from Islamabad’s repeated provocations after the Pahalgam attack. The reactivation of old networks, visits by Pakistani military leaders, and growing religious radicalism in Bangladesh suggest that Islamabad is once again trying to build a “second front” against India, with Dhaka’s silence only deepening suspicions in New Delhi.
Fresh intelligence and public statements by Pakistani clerics have raised alarm in New Delhi that Bangladesh may be emerging as a new launchpad for anti-India operations, aided by growing Dhaka and Islamabad proximity under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim regime.
Reports suggest that Pakistan-based terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are exploring the possibility of using Bangladeshi soil to revive their jihadist network against India. This development coincides with an unusual wave of military and diplomatic engagement between Bangladesh and Pakistan, marked by the visit of Pakistan’s Navy Chief to Dhaka and the first docking of a Pakistani naval vessel at Chattogram port since 1971.
LeT’s renewed threat: ‘Preparing to attack India through Bangladesh’
Concerns escalated after Saifullah Saif, a senior LeT commander, claimed at a rally in Pakistan’s Khairpur Tamewali that Hafiz Saeed was planning to “open a new front” against India from Bangladesh. “Hafiz Saeed is not sitting idle, he is preparing to attack India through Bangladesh,” Saif declared on 30 October. A video of his speech has gone viral, though its authenticity could not been independently verified by Moneycontrol.
Saif added that LeT operatives were already active in “East Pakistan,” the term Pakistani extremists still use for Bangladesh, and “prepared to answer India for Operation Sindoor,” referring to India’s retaliatory strike in response to the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year.
His remarks came soon after reports that Saeed’s close aide, Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, General Secretary of Pakistan’s Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, had travelled to Bangladesh to mobilise Islamist groups.
Pakistan’s radical envoy in Dhaka
Zaheer arrived in Dhaka on 25 October, landing at Shah Makhdum Airport in Rajshahi, where he was reportedly received by Abdur Rahim bin Abdur Razzaq, a member of Al Jamia As-Salafia, an Islamic institute linked to the Ahl-e-Hadith movement in Bangladesh.
During his visit, Zaheer toured border districts including Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, where he delivered incendiary speeches to local radicals. “You must be ready to sacrifice yourself for the cause of Islam... ready to sacrifice your children as well. We must stand prepared to confront secular and liberal forces,” Zaheer was quoted as saying. “From Pakistan to Bangladesh, all Muslims will unite against the seculars.”
Zaheer also invoked the Kashmir issue to rally support for Pakistan. “The Kashmiris are being deprived of their freedom. It is Pakistan’s responsibility to raise a strong voice against the anti-Islamic laws and the oppressive acts in Indian Kashmir. By the grace of Allah, the day will come when Kashmir will become part of Pakistan.”
This was Zaheer’s second visit to Bangladesh since February 2025, under the Yunus administration. His presence coincided with the arrival of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, who led a high-level delegation to Dhaka on 24 October. The parallel visits have been viewed in New Delhi as a calculated attempt by Pakistan to re-establish strategic influence inside Bangladesh.
‘From Bangladesh, they will come into India’
In his speech, Saifullah Saif glorified Zaheer’s activities, saying, “Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer went to Bangladesh. He spoke of Kashmir, that Bengal (Bangladesh), which was snatched from us, which Indira Gandhi had said that ‘we have drowned the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal’. Today, by the grace of Allah, that son of a lion, that orator, Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, is roaring like his father, like a lion, inside Bangladesh.”
Saif further claimed, “He is talking about Kashmir and Palestine. India is worried and distressed by this. They say, ‘Hafiz Saeed’s right-hand man has gone to Bangladesh. Now, from Bangladesh, they will come into India.’”
Footage from the rally showed Saif urging his followers to commit war against India, even as children were seen among the audience. He falsely claimed that Pakistan’s military victory over India and the United States was already ordained. “If you have learnt the lesson of jihad, when you entered the field on the night of 10 May, Allah made you a superpower in the world. India was attacking you, America was with them, all this was happening. Today, they have all sat down. Allah has established you in the world. Now, America is with us, and Bangladesh is also getting closer to Pakistan again,” Saif boasted.
Worrying signs of a new axis
Bangladesh-based analysts have expressed concern that Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), LeT’s front organisation, is quietly expanding its presence in Bangladesh under the cover of religious networks and madrasa funding. They fear the movement could radicalise local youth and create a cross-border terrorism corridor linking Pakistan’s intelligence networks with Islamist groups in Bangladesh.
These developments coincide with Dhaka’s visible tilt toward Islamabad since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024. Since Yunus assumed power, bilateral engagement has accelerated. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has met Yunus twice, once on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and later during the D-8 Summit in Cairo.
Pakistan’s naval push and deepening defence links
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Naval Chief, Admiral Naveed Ashraf, arrived in Dhaka for a four-day visit, where he met Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman to discuss expanding defence cooperation. According to government sources, the discussions focused on enhancing training exchanges, joint seminars, and future defence collaborations.
A day earlier, the PNS Saif, a Pakistani naval ship, docked at Chattogram Port for a four-day goodwill visit, the first such naval visit since the 1971 Liberation War. The move is widely viewed as symbolic of a growing strategic realignment between the two countries.
Bangladesh and Pakistan have also resumed direct trade, reintroduced visa-free travel, announced fully funded student scholarships, and reopened Track II diplomatic channels.
India’s strategic concerns
For India, these converging developments are deeply troubling. The combination of Pakistan’s renewed terror rhetoric, religious mobilisation inside Bangladesh, and expanding military-to-military engagement between Dhaka and Islamabad poses a multidimensional security threat.
Analysts warn that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies could once again exploit Bangladeshi territory to infiltrate militants into India’s northeastern states or West Bengal, replicating patterns seen in the early 2000s.
As one senior Indian security official privately observed, “Pakistan’s intentions are clear. It is trying to open a new front using Bangladesh’s weakened state and religious networks. The danger is that Dhaka may willingly play along.”
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