Dhaka: Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is exploiting Bangladesh’s shifting political and security environment to advance its regional agenda against India, according to a report released on Friday.
Citing intelligence assessments, the report stated that Pakistani operatives are working to rebuild networks of Islamist militant groups, reviving pre-1971-era links with sympathisers within Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami — an organisation that had opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan.
“Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is quietly reasserting itself in Bangladesh, taking advantage of changing political dynamics, porous borders, and radical networks to strengthen its influence along India’s eastern frontier,” the Eurasia Review report said. “Recent developments suggest a resurgence of ISI-linked activity aimed at destabilising both Bangladesh and India, under the guise of enhanced ‘defence cooperation’ between Dhaka and Islamabad.”
The report highlighted that the latest indication of this agenda came when Pakistan’s Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, met Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus. The meeting, publicised by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), stressed boosting bilateral defence and security cooperation — a phrase the report described as “a diplomatic euphemism masking Islamabad’s covert objectives.”
It further noted that Bangladesh’s porous border with India has long served as a weak point, turning into a corridor for smuggling, arms trafficking, and militant movement. The ISI and its proxies allegedly exploit these routes to support anti-India operations and maintain secret communication channels across the frontier.
“Intelligence inputs suggest that ISI-backed operatives have established training and indoctrination camps in Cox’s Bazar and northern Bangladesh — areas with minimal state control,” the report said. “These camps, reportedly run by former Pakistani Special Service Group (SSG) personnel, recruit both Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya refugees, blending radicalisation with humanitarian displacement.”
The report added that these camps serve dual objectives: bolstering local extremist outfits such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and preparing operatives for cross-border infiltration into India’s Northeast. “The inclusion of Rohingya recruits adds a dangerous dimension, weaponising a humanitarian crisis for geopolitical ends,” it warned.
According to the report, the reactivation of ISI networks in Bangladesh reflects a renewed strategic thrust in Pakistan’s long-standing proxy campaign against India.
“The combination of ideological indoctrination, covert funding, and clandestine training represents a potent hybrid threat to both Dhaka and New Delhi,” it concluded. “For Bangladesh, it risks undermining internal stability and empowering radical groups, while for India, it exposes a vulnerable eastern flank already facing insurgency and cross-border challenges.”
