NEW DELHI: 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 own territory along the borders with India. The Indian side has taken all measures, including installing radars for keeping a close watch on their activities in these areas, they said.

On occasions, the TB-2s of the Bangladeshi military have also flown sorties of over 20 hours on surveillance missions, the sources said. 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, 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 inn sensitive zones like the Chicken’s Neck corridor in Siliguri, West Bengal. Recently, Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi had expressed concerns over the presence of Pakistani military and intelligence officials in Bangladesh near Indian territory.

“I had used the word epicentre of terrorism for a particular country (Pakistan). Now those countrymen, if they go to any other place and they happen to be our neighbour, as far as I am concerned, I should be concerned about it. That they should not be able to use that soil to send terrorists to India. That is as far as that is concerned,” General Dwivedi had recently said in the ANI Podcast.

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