Bangladesh and Pakistan sign anti-narcotics cooperation MoU

New Delhi: Bangladesh and Pakistan have stepped up security cooperation by widening sectors of engagement under the new Tarique Rahman administration. Both countries agreed to strengthen efforts to combat narcotics trafficking through information sharing, joint intelligence operations, and capacity-building initiatives.

Dhaka and Islamabad on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing cooperation in preventing illegal drug trafficking, money laundering, and drug abuse.

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Bangladesh home minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Pakistan interior minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi signed the document valid for the next 10 years. The two countries also agreed to collaborate on training and capacity building of officials involved in narcotics control, besides sharing research findings, according to Dhaka-based sources.

According to the agreement, Bangladesh and Pakistan will regularly exchange information on drug traffickers, drug trafficking organisations (DTOs), emerging smuggling routes, and new concealment techniques used in narcotics trafficking, according to a report in Bangladesh English daily The Daily Star. The MoU also provides for joint intelligence-led operations, including 'controlled delivery operations,' to disrupt transnational drug networks. Intelligence agencies of both countries will carry out activities based on mutual requests and coordinated cooperation, according to the Daily Star report.

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This is the first structured cooperation between intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Bangladesh in the last 15 years. Currently, a dozen senior officers of the rank of additional secretaries and joint secretaries from Bangladesh are undergoing training courses at the civil services academy in Lahore, ET had recently reported.

The officers have been drawn from Bangladesh's Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Public Administration and Cabinet Division, people said.

The choice of ministries is critical for the governance of Bangladesh and their interface with Pakistan would enable Islamabad to make inroads into Dhaka's governance system. Notably, the Pakistan government will bear all expenses related to the programme, with no financial involvement from Bangladesh.