Pakistan Said to Plan ULFA Chief Paresh Baruah’s Return to Dhaka Amid Expanding Influence in Post-Hasina Bangladesh
Reports of renewed cross-border manoeuvring around a banned insurgent leader are raising concerns about shifting political dynamics in Bangladesh and their wider regional security implications: AI modified picture via DALL-E
Pakistan is reportedly planning to facilitate the return of banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chief Paresh Baruah to Dhaka from his current hideout in China, amid Islamabad’s expanding outreach to Bangladesh under its interim political dispensation, according to people familiar with the matter.
How is Pakistan seeking to leverage the North-East insurgency?
Security and diplomatic sources allege that Pakistan’s Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are seeking to revive links with Indian insurgent groups from the Northeast by positioning Bangladesh once again as a permissive operating base.
The reported move comes as Pakistan attempts to widen its strategic footprint in post–Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh, while allegedly backing radical elements, including Jamaat-e-Islami, ahead of the February elections.
How is Pakistan’s Baruah plan playing out in Bangladesh?
According to a Bangladesh affairs expert, Islamabad is banking on the emergence of a favourable political regime in Dhaka that could enable the return and rehabilitation of insurgent leaders such as Baruah.
This, analysts say, would mirror the strategy pursued during the earlier BNP-Jamaat rule, when several Northeast Indian militant groups operated from Bangladeshi territory with relative impunity.
Why will Baruah’s relocation impact India-Bangladesh ties?
Baruah, one of India’s most wanted insurgent leaders, is alleged to have played a key role in the failed 2004 arms smuggling attempt, in which 10 truckloads of weapons were brought into Bangladesh via Chittagong. The consignment was believed to be intended for insurgent groups operating in India’s Northeast.
Earlier reports have suggested that China facilitated Baruah’s movement within Yunnan province, shifting him from Ruili near the Arunachal Pradesh–Myanmar border to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.
Any attempt to relocate him to Dhaka, analysts warn, could have serious implications for regional security and India-Bangladesh counterterrorism cooperation.
