Pakistan woos Bangladesh with Karachi Port access: Why India must closely watch the emerging Islamabad-Dhaka-Beijing triangle

Shipping containers are seen stacked on a ship at a sea port in Karachi on April 6, 2023. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

A new alignment is taking shape in South Asia as Pakistan moves swiftly to court Bangladesh amid Dhaka’s strained relationship with New Delhi. Islamabad has offered Bangladesh the use of Karachi Port for exporting goods to China and Central Asian states, a move widely seen as an attempt to draw Dhaka into its economic orbit.

The proposal was finalised during the ninth session of the Pakistan-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission (JEC), held in Dhaka on Monday, marking the first such meeting in two decades. The development follows a recent meeting between Pakistan’s top military officer, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, and Bangladesh’s interim Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus, signalling a significant thaw between the two countries.

Pakistan’s outreach to a post-Hasina Bangladesh

The Mirza-Yunus meeting is part of a broader diplomatic effort to reset ties that have remained frozen since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Relations between Dhaka and Islamabad began to improve rapidly after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, whose pro-India stance had long kept Pakistan at arm’s length.

Since then, both sides have taken concrete steps to rebuild cooperation. Pakistan and Bangladesh have signed a visa-free travel agreement for diplomatic and government passport holders, offered 500 scholarships for Bangladeshi students -- 25 percent of which are for medical education -- and announced specialised training programmes for Bangladeshi civil servants under Islamabad’s technical assistance plan.

ALSO READ: Hafiz Saeed’s ally’s Bangladesh tour rekindles old fears: How Pakistan’s radical network is creeping closer to India’s borders

Direct flights between Karachi and Dhaka have also resumed for the first time since 2018, while maritime links between the two nations have been restored after nearly five decades. Bangladesh has further lifted its import restrictions on Pakistani goods that previously required mandatory physical inspections, opening the door to expanded bilateral trade.

How Karachi Port offer raises alarm in India

Pakistan’s offer to grant Bangladesh access to Karachi Port carries serious strategic implications for India. The development comes just two months after India banned several jute and woven products from Bangladesh through land routes in response to Dhaka’s growing tilt toward Beijing and Islamabad.

By offering Dhaka a gateway to China and Central Asia, Pakistan is not only attempting to undermine India’s regional influence but also to establish itself as a logistical and political alternative for a vulnerable Bangladesh.

New Delhi views the move with caution, especially after Yunus described China as the “only guardian of the ocean" for India’s “landlocked" northeastern region during his April visit to Beijing. The combination of Chinese and Pakistani engagement in Bangladesh’s ports and trade corridors poses a direct challenge to India’s eastern flank, both economically and strategically.

Analysts warn that Pakistan’s renewed interest in Bangladesh’s markets and infrastructure could evolve into deeper military cooperation in the future, reviving the same strategic triangle -- Islamabad, Dhaka and Beijing -- that India has historically sought to counter.