India-Bangladesh defence ties were on the table on Tuesday when Dinesh Trivedi, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, called on Gen Dhiraj Seth, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).

The interaction focused on India-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation and on measures to strengthen defence links between the two neighbours, according to the Indian Army.

Both men are new to their posts. Gen Seth became the 31st COAS on 30 June.

Envoy in Dhaka since June

The Ministry of External Affairs announced Trivedi's appointment on 27 April. He is a former Railway Minister and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, and represented Barrackpore in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha.

His posting broke with long practice. According to reports at the time, he is the first political appointee to an ambassadorial post in South Asia in more than three decades.

He succeeded Pranay Verma, a 1994 batch Indian Foreign Service officer who moved to Brussels as Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union. Trivedi received his letters of credence from President Droupadi Murmu on 5 June, crossed into Bangladesh by road through Petrapole and Benapole on 12 June, and presented his credentials at Bangabhaban on 25 June. The Centre also gave him the equivalent status of a Union Cabinet Minister in the Table of Precedence, for ceremonial functions only.

India-Bangladesh defence ties after the change in Dhaka

Bangladesh has had a new government since February, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Ties went through a difficult phase after August 2024, and both capitals have since moved to rebuild engagement.

Defence has been part of that track from the start. On 8 April, Verma met Brig Gen (Retd) Dr AKM Shamsul Islam, Defence Adviser to the Bangladesh Prime Minister. The two reviewed consultation mechanisms, training exchanges, capacity building and links between defence institutes, according to the High Commission of India in Dhaka.

Defence Adviser meeting in Dhaka Cantonment

Trivedi picked up the same thread on 9 September. He called on the Defence Adviser at the Armed Forces Division in Dhaka Cantonment, where joint training, exchange of professional expertise, disaster management and maritime security came up.

"India attaches immense importance to its deep military and strategic relationship with Bangladesh," Trivedi said, according to Bangladesh's Inter Services Public Relations directorate.

The National Defence College, New Delhi, added another strand to India-Bangladesh defence ties on 31 August, when its delegation, hosted by the Bangladesh armed forces, met Trivedi in Dhaka.

Bangladesh flew at Tarang Shakti 2026

Military contact has continued in the air as well. The Bangladesh Air Force sent a C-130 transport aircraft to Tarang Shakti 2026, the Indian Air Force's multinational exercise at Air Force Station Jodhpur, which runs until 12 October.

Army Chief since 30 June

Gen Dhiraj Seth succeeded Gen Upendra Dwivedi as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff, taking charge at the end of June after Gen Dwivedi retired. Since then he has reviewed formations across several commands, including Northern Command, and set out the VIJAY principles for all ranks.

India and Bangladesh share a land border of about 4,096 km, guarded on the Indian side by the Border Security Force. In July, the DG BSF carried out a four-day review of the riverine Sundarban stretch of that border.