Rising of an Armed Forces and Non-traditional Challenges for Future in Bangladesh

 After the Independence in 1971 Bangladesh Armed Forces have travelled a long way. A tiny but devoted guerilla force composed of Bengali elements of the then Pakistan army who joined the Liberation War to form the backbone of the Liberation force, today has turned into a fairly large, well-trained, well-armed, highly professional and most importantly well recognized force by the world. Bangladesh Armed Forces have advanced stepping with the fast developing world over the period of time as a well-organized force. This force has earned the fame of being capable of not only performing the primary role of defending the country's frontier from external aggression and internal subversion, but also increasingly and successfully helping in the task of nation-building with a motto of “Ever High is My Head”. Having the experience of countering the diversified Non-Traditional Security threats to the nation this force has already established itself as one of the well capable front line Armed forces in the region.

The international environment is transforming rapidly and demanding a new generation of “multi-dimensional” United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). The dynamics of the Operations have become more complex due to the new mandates and very often with fewer resources, missions are expected to perform compound, concurrent, interdependent tasks in harsh and remote operating environments. Not all the forces in the world could comply with and serve the requirements of the present status of the transformation to the 5th Generation Peacekeeping by UN. At this stage of UNPKO, the Bangladesh Armed Forces is the force preferred by the UN for its global peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions. The Armed Forces members are the ambassadors for Bangladesh in abroad, serving the humanity, earning appreciation of millions of conflict effected people in the most disaster-stricken part of the world.

With an expenditure of around 1.5% of its GDP on defence and which is a rising percentage in last few years, the Bangladesh Government has been considering the Armed Forces as one of the largest sectors of government spending. As a result, Bangladesh Army has grown from a force of 3 brigades in the early 1970s to its current strength of 8 modernized divisions. It is a well-equipped force with upgraded version of tanks, longer range of artillery and missiles of modern generations, expanded aviation capability, modernized foot and mechanized infantry and many other mentionable advancements. An Air Force started its journey as “Kilo Flight” in 1971 at present is a well equipped force with upgraded generation of combat aircrafts, attack helicopters, long-range transport aircraft and an impressive range of air defence systems. Bangladesh Navy too has grown from a few patrol boats to its present component of modern missile-armed fighting ships, maritime patrol aircrafts and submarines. This is going to provide a considerable 3-dimentional naval capability in the air, on the surface and underwater to the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The Forces Goal 2030 after its revision on 2017 has already started to see its implementation on ground. The program is advancing at a recognizable pace with the focus to the comprehensive modernization program through reformation of the military organization, expansion of the forces, transformation of the aboriginal defense sector to support research, manufacturing, and acquisition of modern military weapons.

Bangladesh Armed Forces is primarily designed to fight a conventional war against external aggression. It can be said that, for Bangladesh, the threat of external aggression is marginal, at present and in near future. The land and maritime boundaries with Myanmar are well demarcated. The only mentionable issue with Myanmar is the Rohingya Crisis which is taken to the international arena by the government. This great endeavor is most likely to bring a strategic solution to the crisis without the involvement of the armed forces. Bangladesh shares over 4,000 km border with her largest neighbor India, and that too is well demarcated, though there are some parts of totaling approximately 9 km that are considered disputed. There are few other issues such as enclaves and adverse possessed land that are in the process of diplomatically negotiated settlement. The issue of water sharing of the common rivers often strains India-Bangladesh relations, does not merit a military solution. As on today, there is no dispute between the two countries that could erupt into military confrontation. Moreover, the considerable military capabilities and the international impression of the Bangladesh Armed Forces acts as a deterrence to any external military threat.

However, in the present context the states seek peaceful dialogue to settle their differences in case of internal conflicts. Since the last few decades, there have been new emerging threats which might not directly effecting the essential values of the state, territorial integrity, and political sovereignty but they need military intervention for the nations bigger interest. These threats are categorized as Non-Traditional Threats (NTT).

Generally, basing on the origination two types of NTT are seen which are Manmade and Natural. The threats like terrorism, arms and drug smuggling, human trafficking, organised crimes, money laundering, cybercrime, illegal migration etc fall under the Manmade NTT. On the other hand, Natural NTT include flood, cyclone and tidal surge, earthquake, global warming, pollution, pandemics etc. Both, these types of threats can often turn into existential crisis to the nation and merit military assistance and intervention. Nowadays, military forces are increasingly called upon to play their non-traditional roles and they are found to be the best responders in these type of situations. As such, defence forces are reforming their organisational structures and planning to fit in the new roles. Bangladesh Armed Forces is no exception. Over the years, it has established a role model of Fighting NTT in the world.

In the present highly globalized world looking through the lance of NTT the most globalized threat is Terrorism. It has gone beyond all the frontiers and can’t be given any nationality. Bangladesh Armed Forces has already set the greatest example of success to fight terrorism inside own territory in “Operation Twilight” and “Operation Thunderbolt”. In both the cases The Armed Forces was launched as the last resource and given with one and only option “Success”. The nation and the world know the rest of the glorious success of Bangladesh Armed Forces in those high risk operations. Not only this, on the call of the international community in distant land and different environment Bangladesh Armed Forces is successfully fighting against the international terrorist organizations. It has shown remarkable actions operating against international terrorist organisations like ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) and JNIM the umbrella group formed by the Sahara Branch of al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb. It is assumed that these kind of fights are going to be further bloody, fierce and long. Besides an appropriate strategy it involves the upgraded version of tactics, weapons, equipment and training to fight against these types of terrorist forces. While performing as a part of a multi-national UN Force, along with the above mentioned “Combating Terrorism” factors Bangladesh Armed Forces may find itself less prepared for a “Counter Terrorism” approach in an international arena. To secure the crown of the leading nation in new generation Peace Keeping these impediments need to be overcome in near future.

Bangladesh Armed Forces has got significant success in playing vital role against Arms and Drug Smuggling in Chottogram Hill Tracks and many other parts of the country. As on today, Arms and Drug smuggling have already attended an international dimension thereby a level of attention of international community. It will be of no wonder if Bangladesh Armed Forces are asked to be deployed overseas to counter these smugglings. In the South –Asian region the strong nexus among the drug and arms smugglers of Myanmar, the Islamist militants and Maoist insurgents is found. Very often the arms and drug smugglers are found involved in human trafficking to maintain their parallel or backup financial plan. For clandestine financial management using of forged documents and bank accounts are very common phenomena in these types of illegal activities. Therefore, prevention of money laundering is a major responsibility for the security forces. Military forces have a clear and designated role in aiding all these counter-terrorism activities. In case of the management of natural disasters like flood, cyclone, land slide, earthquake etc Bangladesh Armed Forces has been outstanding for decades. This force should be ready to face the same challenge in broader arena if deployed overseas.

Even in fighting the pandemics like COVID – 19, the role of Armed Forces has been seen all over the country. Bangladesh Armed Forces are the most systematically trained, disciplined, and equipped to function under extreme pressure and state of emergency than any other organization. So, like many other countries Bangladesh Government has confidently decided to send its Armed Forces to the frontlines to fend of COVID-19. Combined with access to various time critical assets such as airlifts, sea lifts, heavy utility vehicles and well-disciplined manpower with the experience of sustaining and running those facilities, so far, the Armed Forces has given all-out effort to serve the nation. During the Ebola virus outbreak in Central Africa the military forces were found the best option to enforce movement control across and within the country. With the combination of the experience of fighting COVID -19 from the front and the mentioned tradition of deployment of military forces in UN Missions to fend pandemic, Bangladesh Armed Forces might have to response to an international appeal of same kind in near future. Therefore, to keep the image and the flag of the nation flying high this force needs to be further organized, equipped and trained to take the overseas non-traditional challenges those are often far different from conventional threat scenario for which they are primarily trained.

Now adays, nations always look for opportunities to judge and compare their military skills by practical implication of their capability. It is to be considered that, without any experience of a traditional war Bangladesh Armed Forces has shown the remarkable performance wherever they were called for. There are few national and international exercises being conducted every year for them. Still, the multi-national exercises focusing on how best military forces of different nations could operate under a joint umbrella to combat modern common threats (natural or manmade) is of immense importance. From the Armed Forces the future asymmetric challenges will highly demand time worthy improvisation capability and fastest possible adoptability. With its prevailing image Bangladesh Armed Forces are expected to be prepared to face those challenges by all means.

Bangladesh military is an important partner in our quest for national progress. From building roads, bridges and dykes to training doctors, nurses, engineers and technicians -- the military is involved in the nation-building process. While concentrating on its primary mission of defense of the country, it is supplementing the national efforts to turn the huge youth population into highly productive manpower. In conclusion, it can be stated that in peace and in war, at present and into the future, Bangladesh armed forces remain relevant to the national goals and objectives.