In perhaps the starkest instance of the Bangladesh armed forces’ continuing deepening of relations with Pakistan – after August 2024 – Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan will lead a six-member team of officers for a six-day visit to Islamabad beginning January 4, 2026.
The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) team’s visit to Pakistan will take place barely four days after the arrival in Dhaka of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to attend the funeral of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who passed away on December 30.
A Bangladesh Armed Forces Division (AFD) document accessed by Northeast News reveals that ACM Khan will be accompanied by his spouse, Saleha Khan, while Air Commodore Mohammad Kamrul Islam, Group Captain Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman and two flight lieutenants will be in Pakistan between January 4 and 9. The Armed Forces Division functions under Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus’ office.
This is the first time since the 1971 liberation war that the chief of an armed force will visit Pakistan. The AFD document, prepared on December 11, states in no uncertain terms that ACM Khan’s visit to Pakistan will “enhance cooperation and inter-dependence” between the two air forces. Besides, the document claims that the visit will provide “experience for conducting future consolidation” of the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF).
A deepening of defence ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan began in January 2025 when a five-member team of Bangladesh Army officers led by Principal Staff Officer in the AFD, Lt Gen S M Kamrul Hassan, visited Rawalpindi and met with top Pakistani generals. This was followed by the arrival in Dhaka of a three-member team of Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) led by a major general.
Since then, there has been a continuous stream of visits to Bangladesh by top Pakistan Army and Navy officers, including Admiral Naveed Ashraf. The last such visit to Dhaka was by Pakistan’s Heavy Industries Taxila Chairman Lt Gen Shakir Ullah Khattak, who arrived in the Bangladesh capital on November 22.
Informed Bangladeshi defence sources said ACM Khan’s visit comes at a time when the BAF has pulled out all stops to acquire 20 Chinese-made J-10C and at least ten Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for which a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Italy’s Leonardo was signed in December 2025 for potential purchase. The Bangladesh defence forces are also expected to acquire six Turkey-manufactured T129 ATAK attack helicopters.
ACM Khan’s visit will be watched with consternation by the Indian defence authorities even as the Bangladesh armed forces have sought to accelerate moves to modernise the Army, Air Force and Navy in accordance with the objectives enshrined in the Forces Goal 2030.
