Even as China continues to be the biggest defence partner of Bangladesh, Dhaka has been attempting to diversify its defense partnership and has significantly enhanced its partnership with Turkey.
As part of this increased defense cooperation, Bangladesh—once a staunch regional ally of India—has acquired Turkish systems like Bayraktar TB2 drones, Otokar Cobra/TRG-300 armored vehicles, ROKETSAN rocket launchers, and BORAN howitzers in recent years.
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While this partnership is helping Bangladesh reduce its reliance on any single supplier, the increased partnership is helping Turkey to increasingly access Dhaka's defense market.
However, this increased partnership is causing concern for India, according to an expert. The relations between India and Turkey remain strained, particularly after Ankara's support for Pakistan during the May military conflict with India.
Writing in Politics Today, Dr. Duygu Çağla Bayram, an Ankara-based India specialist, notes that Bangladesh's discussions with Turkey over the potential sale of a few more weapons have raised concerns in New Delhi. She argues that India is concerned that its air superiority on the eastern front may be diminished if Dhaka continues to procure air defense systems from Turkey.
The expert said that while Turkish air defense technology procured by Dhaka is no match for India’s Russian S-400 systems, it still offers Bangladesh a credible deterrence and would make regional air planning near sensitive border areas more complicated. "This could potentially reshape the balance of air defense capabilities in South Asia, where Russian systems currently dominate," she wrote.
Although India does not doubt the qualitative and quantitative superiority of its armed forces in the region, New Delhi is aware that its strategic comfort could be challenged. While India has been accustomed to managing China’s regional influence, Turkey’s defense industry export initiatives from a NATO nation present a new and distinct challenge for India.
For Bangladesh, according to the expert, the instability in neighboring Myanmar poses a significant challenge, and repeated violations of its airspace and borders understandably push Dhaka to showcase robust defence capabilities. At the same time, managing the strategic asymmetry with India remains an important consideration.
From India's perspective, Turkey’s expanding role in Bangladesh’s defence industry, coupled with ideological initiatives and enhanced naval access in the Bay of Bengal, is seen as a challenge to India’s regional influence. Additionally, the potential for renewed tensions and instability along India’s eastern borders, driven by closer Pakistan-Bangladesh military ties, is a significant concern.
"A Pakistan–Bangladesh rapprochement involving China and Turkey is causing Delhi to worry that India could potentially be excluded from its own region," she writes.
