Military Diplomacy with Bangladesh: India’s Quiet Security Reset

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From border optics with Dhaka to drones, cyber threats and the Russia–China–India triangle, New Delhi’s foreign policy in 2025 reveals a harder, smarter security doctrine.

By NIRENDRA DEV

New Delhi, December 23, 2025 — India’s foreign policy in 2025 has been defined less by lofty rhetoric and more by hard security choices. Trade and tariff tensions with the United States, renewed military confrontation with Pakistan, and an uneasy recalibration of ties with neighbours have forced New Delhi to think beyond traditional diplomacy. Nowhere is this more evident than in India’s evolving engagement with Bangladesh.

The internal dynamics of India’s neighbourhood have always shaped Bharat’s security environment, but 2025 brought this reality into sharp focus. While Pakistan and India exchanged armed blows for a few days in May, the eastern theatre remained diplomatically volatile.

Engagement with Dhaka unfolded across negotiating tables, often marked by sharp rhetoric, mutual suspicion and, increasingly, the realisation that ties must be stabilised—if not formally, then at least informally.

By December, relations dipped to uncomfortable lows. Yet optimism remains a necessary currency in foreign policy. This raises a critical question: can military diplomacy become a stabilising tool between Delhi and Dhaka?

Recent optics suggest the idea is not far-fetched. Senior Indian military officials from Kolkata and Nagaland quietly visited sensitive border areas, including Belonia in Tripura. The message was unmistakable: India’s security concerns—conventional and unconventional—are real, and preparedness is non-negotiable.

One of the most complex challenges lies in cyber security, an asymmetrical threat where deterrence simply does not work. Unlike conventional warfare, the source of cyberattacks is often untraceable. Experts have long warned that India’s critical information infrastructure, built in an “inorganic” manner, remains more vulnerable than China’s homogenous systems.

Simultaneously, India has accelerated tactical modernisation. Exercises like “Drone Prahar,” overseen by Lt Gen Abhijeet S. Pendharkar of the Spear Corps, underline how drones now dominate surveillance, intelligence and precision targeting across eastern, northern and western fronts. These technologies have altered battlefield dynamics—and even soldier morale. As one officer put it, “Naya pan aa raha hai”—a newness that keeps soldiers invested in service.

On the western front, Operation Sindoor reinforced a familiar truth: Pakistan’s civilian leadership remains too weak to restrain a military establishment that thrives on anti-India hostility. That reality has not changed since the 1970s.

Globally, 2025 also dismantled the myth of Russia’s isolation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s renewed engagement with Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Moscow as India’s top military supplier, while subtly reminding Beijing that Russia has options. The RIC framework remains relevant, even as China’s economic leverage over Russia grows.

Amid shifting geopolitics, India’s strategic answer lies in collective security—particularly in the Indian Ocean Region. Open geography ensures no single power can dominate these waters, making maritime security inseparable from economic well-being.

The release of the Joint Military Space Doctrine at the Commanders’ Conference in Kolkata showed India’s future-ready approach. Jointness, integration and quiet military diplomacy—especially with neighbours like Bangladesh—may well define India’s security narrative beyond 2025.

(This is an opinion piece. Views are personal)