Amid concerns over Pakistan’s close military ties with Bangladesh, it is now emerging that the Bangladesh military has acquired the Turkish TB-2 Bayraktar drones and is operating them close to the Indian border for surveillance operations.
Defence sources told ANI that the Indian agencies concerned have seen the drones operating and are closely monitoring them. Sources said the drones have been seen carrying out sorties in the last few months and are flying inside their territory along the borders with India. The Indian side has taken all measures, including installing radars to closely monitor their activities in these areas, they said. On occasions, the sources said the TB-2s of the Bangladeshi military have also flown sorties of over 20 hours on surveillance missions. The Bayraktar TB2 is in the medium-altitude, long-endurance category of drones and has been one of the biggest successes of the Turkish defence industry. The unmanned aircraft is capable of being equipped with air-to-ground weapons and has been used extensively in global conflicts.
In recent times, the Bangladesh administration led by Mohammed Yunus is seen increasing ties with the Pakistani intelligence agencies and has even welcomed their officers to visit areas closer to the Indian border in sensitive zones like the Chicken’s Neck corridor in Siliguri, West Bengal.
