According to officials, Bangladesh and the US passed a draft defence agreement during their eighth partnership dialogue in March 2022. Ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stalled the deal under the instruction of her master in Delhi.
The student protests that led to Hasina’s downfall had quickly escalated from student demonstrations on campuses to a nationwide mass revolution, with hundreds of thousands calling for her removal and the return of democracy. Hasina’s government responded with an onslaught of violence and bullets, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured.
Hasina’s decision to flee on 5 August after protesters stormed her residence was greeted with jubilation across Bangladesh.
US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, addressing reporters, and the two sides have passed the draft agreement on the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and the Acquisition Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).
What are GSOMIA and ACSA?
In plain English, GSOMIA allows a partner nation to purchase American-made military hardware, and ACSA allows partner nations to pay for fuel, food, transport, and training for their military personnel.
“Finally, GSOMIA is the gateway to being able to do more on the security front… today, we passed a draft agreement, and we are very confident that we will be able to get the issue settled so that we can do more on the security side together and that will be looked forward to,” Victoria Nuland said.
Bangladesh officials said that Washington wanted Dhaka to sign two defence agreements — GSOMIA and the Acquisition Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).
For the last four years, the US has been keen to sign two defence deals– ACSA and GSOMIA. Under the ACSA, US forces exchange the most common types of support, including food, fuel, transportation, ammunition, and equipment. Under GSOMIA, Bangladesh gets facilities for interoperability between militaries and the sale of high-end technology.
Security Cooperation
Describing the Bangladesh-US relationship as “multifaceted and comprehensive,” US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Mira Resnick said there is so much the two countries can do together, including in the security relationship.
The two sides elaborated on more robust defence and security cooperation and exchanged views on investments, trade facilitation, defence, security, and connectivity.
The GSOMIA enables the signee country and the United States to directly share classified information by ensuring the safeguarding and handling of shared classified information to equal standards. More than 51 countries have signed a GSOMIA with the United States. India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand are among the Indo-Pacific nations that have secured a GSOMIA with the U.S.
Bangladesh wants to modernise its military forces to implement the Forces Goal-2030. The government is working to reduce its dependence on a single country for arms procurement. As part of that, Bangladesh wants to buy advanced weapons such as F-16V Block 70 from the United States.
In 2018, Bangladesh proposed to buy advanced weapons from the United States. The US has not sold advanced technology weapons without a specialised defence contract. To purchase American weapons, the US asked Bangladesh to sign the GSOMIA and ACSA agreements to protect the classified military information and intellectual properties of US manufacturers.
Since 2014, the United States has provided Bangladesh $78.45 million in foreign military financing (FMF) and $14.5 million in International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance. The US has also donated MRAP, guns, training, and warships to Bangladesh.
The US government has $130.59 million in active government-to-government sales cases with Bangladesh under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system.
Bangladesh also received two former US Coast Guard Hamilton Class cutters via EDA in 2013 and 2015, now serving as the two largest vessels in the Bangladesh Navy. Additionally, Bangladesh received 50 EDA MRAP vehicles in 2019 to support its peacekeepers in Mali.
In FY2019, the United States also authorized the permanent export of over $6 million in defence articles to Bangladesh via the Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) process. The top categories of DCS to Bangladesh include aircraft and related articles, materials and miscellaneous articles, and fire control, laser, imaging, and guidance equipment.
Bangladesh’s exports to the US, GSP facility
Over the last decade, trade, investment and security cooperation, particularly in counter-terrorism, has strengthened. Bangladeshi items have a large market in the US. The trade balance between the two countries favours Bangladesh. The US is the largest single market for garments produced in Bangladesh. By 2019, bilateral commerce had reached $9 billion, with US exports to Bangladesh totalling $2.3 billion, up 12 per cent from 2018. Bangladesh exported $6.7 billion to the US, up 9.5 percent from 2018. Bangladesh is the third-largest recipient of US aid in South Asia.
The US’ recent increasing attention on democracy and human rights in Bangladesh raises the question of why the US is taking this action now. Since the autocratic Hasina left Bangladesh, Bangladesh has had the opportunity to renew dialogue with the US to gain a GSP quota from the US and military aid through GSOMIA.
Indo-Pacific Strategy
Asked for comments on the US Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), Nuland said it involved economic, security and technology elements and “we love to see Bangladesh be involved in much of it (IPS) as you (Dhaka) are interested in being involved in with”.
Bangladesh has high expectations from the Biden administration regarding building a comprehensive bilateral partnership.
The dialogue came three months after the US slapped sanctions on Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and several of its incumbent and former commanders on charges of gross human rights violation.
In recent months, Nuland said her country noticed “progress” in RAB activities in honouring human rights issues.
According to media reports and rights watchdogs, no extra-judicial killings – which the RAB or police previously called “encounters” with armed gangs and drug peddlers were reported since the sanctions were imposed.
Nuland acknowledged Dhaka’s concerns involving the sanctions but called them a “complicated and difficult” issue since “our security and counter-terrorism cooperation is so important”.
The senior US State Department official’s comments came as she emerged from a nearly 90-minute eighth Partnership Dialogue with Bangladesh foreign secretary at the state guesthouse Padma here.
“The US is never going to be silent when we see human rights abuses when we see a violation of basic laws, so we talked about it,” Nuland said.
Asked how the US viewed Bangladesh’s stance on the Ukraine crisis, Nuland said both sides had a “rich conversation” over the issue, and the key inflexion point was the battle “between autocracies and democracies” around the world.
“All democracies now need to stand together, and I am confident that we will stand together in speaking the truth about this (Ukraine conflict) and trying to end this war and restore peace and security,” Nuland said.
Bangladesh, USA ties
While Bangladesh’s top concerns are sanctions and investment, the US wants to ensure its regional security. The US must maintain its security in the Indo-Pacific area amid the current great power rivalry. To accomplish this, the US plans to sign two defense agreements with Bangladesh: GSOMIA and ACSA. Through these, the US hopes to strengthen military ties by enhancing intelligence sharing and exchanging logistical and technological support.
Bangladesh should pursue its policies and maintain its soft demands to enhance its understanding of America and become a trustworthy ally of the US. The US is Bangladesh’s single largest export market for ready-made garments, accounting for 83 percent of total exports. The US was also Bangladesh’s top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) ($3.5 billion in total investments as of 2019). Bangladesh should retain strong connections with the US for two reasons: 1) investment and 2) the Rohingya Crisis. According to recent data, 213,372 Bangladeshis are living in the US, contributing to the country’s economy.
Last but not least, the US has made important contributions to Bangladesh’s knowledge space through numerous scholarships and study programmes.
Both countries have been showing signs of progress for some time, with Bangladesh establishing human rights cells and sending out human rights reports. At the same time, the US has reaffirmed its commitment to working with Bangladesh to improve the country’s human rights situation as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus restores democracy and human rights in Bangladesh.
In conclusion, Dhaka signing the ACSA and the GSOMIA with the US offers a greater opportunity for Bangladesh to modernize its military and engage in recurring Cooperation and Training exercises between the U.S. and Bangladesh.
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