The Bangladesh Army has begun taking active steps to raise three special para commando units, including a brigade, with the Armed Forces Division having sent the proposal to the Ministry of Defence and Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus’ office for approval, official documents accessed by Northeast News reveal.
This and a slew of other decision points were discussed at a two-day conference of general and formation commanders at the Bangladesh Army’s Multipurpose Complex in Dhaka Cantonment on January 25 and 26.
A day after the two conferences end, Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman will go on a day-long tour of the 66th Infantry Division based in Rangpur. He will be accompanied by at least one lieutenant general and four brigadiers.
An eight-page January 5 document, circulated among the Army’s top generals, including Chief of Army Staff General Waker-uz-Zaman, Principal Staff Officer, AFD, Lieutenant General S M Kamrul Hassan, National Defence College Commandant Lt Gen Mohammad Shahinul Haque, ARTDOC General Officer Commanding (GOC) Lt Gen Mainur Rahman and a host of major generals, reveals that the top brass will take considered views on progress reports related to key issues across different areas of responsibility of the officers.
Formation commanders, including major generals leading the Army’s highest units – divisions – who arrived in Dhaka on January 24, will make detailed presentations on crucial tasks completed and the “percentage of completion of works in tangible terms, including the expected dates by which they will be completed”.
While the Military Operations Directorate ensured mine sweeping, the Military Intelligence Directorate took all necessary steps to “covert surveillance” at the conference venue. A coordination conference was held on January 21 to discuss “matters related to the preparation, planning conduct of the conference” at the Army’s Multipurpose Complex mini-meeting room.
One of the most important items on the conference’s agenda was a discussion on the status of a proposal related to sending officer cadets for training to India, Pakistan, the UK, the US, China etc.
The Bangladesh Army will now decide on sending officer cadets to India and Russia “on case-to-case basis depending on bilateral and military ties and offered financial terms and conditions”.
This decision, which is expected to be finalised during the conference, is aimed at downgrading military ties with India and Russia.
This is among the first concrete decisions by the Bangladesh Army following the overthrow of the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Russian and Indian military academies were most-favoured destinations for regularly sending officer cadets for a host of extensive and intensive training modules.
The decision to downgrade India and Russia, Bangladesh defence sources said, will certainly impact on military cooperation between Dhaka and Moscow on one side and Dhaka and New Delhi on another.
A third key decision that is expected to be taken during the course of the two-day conference was on “fixing the future strength of the total manpower of the Bangladesh Army”, the “establishments to be raised as per Planning Directorate’s” proposals in 2025 and “filling up the existing void and to raise the present ad hoc units as permanent”.
Army chief Gen Waker-uz-Zaman will speak on all of these key and potentially controversial decisions which also includes a discussion on an October 15, 2025, proposal to the AFD to raise a new para commando brigade and two para commando battalions. These units will be of a permanent nature.
Less than a month after this proposal was moved by the Planning Directorate, it was forwarded to the Armed Forces Division on November 11, 2025, for further approval by the Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Finance. Subsequently, the Ministry of Defence, which functions under the Chief Adviser’s Office, sent the proposal for “necessary approval” form Yunus.
