NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — Manohar Parrikar, accompanied by vice chiefs of all the three services, will visit Dhaka to participate in Bangladesh's Liberation Anniversary celebrations. But analysts sense a palpable nervousness in the Indian establishment since October when visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping offered a $24 billion credit line to Bangladesh.
Indian unease deepened after a month when Bangladesh announced that it will receive two Chinese submarines by early next year.
"Beijing's overarching intent behind the sale of submarines would be to go beyond strengthening political ties with Dhaka. The long-term submarine training and maintenance needs of the Bangladesh Navy would also enable China's military presence in the Bay of Bengal, and enable it to collate sensitive data for PLA Navy's submarine operations in the future," says Gurpreet S Khurana, India Navy Captain and Executive Director at Indian Maritime Foundation.
India may also further sweeten its defense cooperation with Bangladesh by offering to supply offshore naval vessels on credit.
India has long considered Bangladesh part of its area of influence and its armed forces helped it secede from Pakistan in 1971. India shares cordial political and security ties with the current regime and last year gave a $2 billion grant to Bangladesh.
