Just about a week before Bangladesh interim authority Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus’ China visit, a US Senator today met the chiefs of the country’s three armed forces and intelligence agency in Dhaka in a bid to push his Army, Air Force and Navy to sign onto two defence equipment-related agreements hanging fire for the past two years.
Investigations by Open Secrets, an open-source platform, show that US Democratic Party Senator Gary Peters (Michigan 14th Congressional district), was a recipient of US$ 14,000 from the Soros Fund Management in 2020. All Democratic Party candidates cumulatively received US$ 397,822 from the Soros Management Fund in 2020.
Peters, who has held the Michigan seat since 2015, is a former US House of Representative member between January 2009 to January 2015. More importantly, as a Senate member now, Peters is Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Peters, who is in Dhaka on the invitation of the Yunus interim authority, today held a series of meetings beginning with Bangladesh Army chief General Waqer-uz-Zaman, Air Force head Air Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, Navy chief Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence DG Jahangir Alam.
While the Yunus administration was wary to share details of Peters’ visit, Northeast News has reliably learnt after speaking to at least two senior Bangladesh armed forces officers that Peters sought to convince the three services’ chiefs to agree signing on the dotted lines for two sensitive defence agreements that have been pending closure for the past two years.
These are the Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) and the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSMIA). The ACSA, once signed, would allow the US military to procure and pay for common types of supplies and services from the Bangladeshi armed forces, and vice versa, including items such as food, fuel, transportation and ammunition.
On the other hand, the draft GSMIA, which was taken up during the eighth partnership dialogue between US and Bangladesh defence officials in 2022, would allow Bangladesh to purchase American-made military hardware. This agreement would also enable Bangladesh to get US facilities for interoperability between militaries of the two countries and smoothen the sale of high-end military technology.
The GSMIA would also enable the signee country (Bangladesh) and the US to directly share classified information by ensuring the safeguarding and handling of classified information to equal standards. Over 50 countries, including India, are among Indo-Pacific states that have signed the GSMIA with the US.
As part of its Forces Goal-2030, Bangladesh has been seeking to modernise its armed forces while at the same time taking steps to reduce dependency on any single for arms and weapons procurements. As part of this broad objective, Bangladesh has plans to procure F-16 fighter jets from the US. The Bangladesh military authorities first showed interest in acquiring advanced weapons systems from the US in 2018.
At least two Bangladesh military sources Northeast News spoke with said that the Army, Air Force and Navy have historically seen China as the main supplier of military hardware. The Army has been principal buyer of Chinese weapons, especially those that are used by its infantry and artillery units. The Navy has purchased at least two small submarines.
ALSO READ: Around 8 persons involved with Bangladesh interim regime are US passport holders
“Now, by hosting a Senator who is a member on the Senate Armed Services Committee Yunus seeks to apply pressure on both India and China. But such a move could prove to be a double-edged sword, considering that Beijing may not take kindly to Yunus’ overtures to the US in general and Peters in particular,” a former Bangladesh Major General said.
