Turkish-origin Bayraktar-TB2 drones, which have already been employed by Pakistan in recent military operations against India, have now surfaced in Bangladesh, creating a new and deadly security flashpoint in South Asia. Indian defense and intelligence communities are extremely alarmed by this development, which raises the possibility of coordinated drone-enabled monitoring and possible strike threats along India’s precarious eastern border.
In December 2024, Turkish-made Bayraktar-TB2 drones were first spotted by Indian security forces close to the Bangladesh-India border. These drones, which are renowned for their long-range intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and strike capabilities, are currently being operated from bases in Bangladesh’s Sylhet region, according to several intelligence reports.
These drones can carry out surveillance missions for more than 20 hours, demonstrating high-altitude surveillance of vital Indian military installations, particularly the strategically important Siliguri Corridor, also known as India’s “Chicken’s Neck,” which links the northeast region of the country with the rest of the country.
According to reports, recent shipments of these UAVs entered Bangladesh on ships posing as humanitarian aid trips associated with the contentious Chittagong–Rakhine Corridor. This corridor, which was first offered as a path of aid for Rohingya communities in Myanmar, has caused political unrest in Bangladesh and distrust in Indian security circles due to worries that it could be used as a conduit for foreign intelligence operations, especially by Pakistan.
Tensions between Bangladesh’s military and its interim civilian government are rising as a result of the country’s drone deployment. The Chittagong-Rakhine Corridor has drawn public criticism from Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar Uz Zaman, who has warned that it might turn into a security nightmare and a conduit for foreign intelligence operations, particularly those from Pakistan. With reports indicating that the drone transfer, supported by Turkey and maybe made possible by Pakistan’s military intelligence, may be a part of a larger trilateral alignment against Indian objectives from the east, this rupture highlights a widening gap inside Bangladesh’s power structure.
Increased drone activity along the border states of West Bengal, Assam, and Meghalaya has been confirmed by Indian defense sources. According to reports, the Bayraktar TB2s are exploring India’s most sensitive logistical lifeline and targeting vital military infrastructure in India. Some of their flights are said to extend more than 20 hours. The first obvious indication of this developing threat, which is now recognized as a component of an ongoing intelligence operation, was the drone sighting in December 2024 close to Sohra and Shella in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills.
The Indian Army, Air Force, and Border Security Force (BSF) have responded by stepping up electronic and aerial monitoring, placing sophisticated radar systems and UAV jammers throughout strategic areas. Indian military authorities say that if these drones enter Indian airspace, India can track and destroy them using its extensive anti-drone defenses and counter-UAV capabilities.
In Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and Nagorno-Karabakh, Baykar Technologies’ Bayraktar-TB2 has demonstrated its efficiency on the battlefield. Its deployment in South Asia signifies a strategic change in drone warfare and a major increase in Türkiye’s military might, allowing regional actors to project force without engaging directly. The purchase and use of these cutting-edge drones by Bangladesh marks a significant advancement in its military modernization and could pose a threat to Indian hegemony in the Bay of Bengal and along the land border.
Due to Pakistan’s deployment of Turkish drones along the Line of Control, India’s main drone threat for many years came from the west. The rise of a two-front UAV threat is indicated by the abrupt arrival of Bayraktar TB2s in Bangladesh, which are backed by Turkey and consistent with Pakistani operational doctrine. It’s possible that Dhaka’s function as a drone launchpad is more about enabling coordinated surveillance—and possibly future strike operations—by an unofficial axis involving Pakistan and Turkey than it is about defending itself.
India’s security calculations are being drastically reevaluated as a result of this shifting axis of instability. Indian military strategists are currently debating whether their present eastern stance is adequate to protect against increasingly sophisticated, asymmetric threats and how to fight this new drone-powered alignment.
India’s security situation has changed due to the deployment of Bayraktar-TB2 drones by Bangladesh and Pakistan, supported by Turkey. This has created a live two-front theatre of precision strikes and UAV-enabled monitoring. The fight for dominance of South Asia’s skies has reached a new and perilous phase, one that requires quick adaptation and strong countermeasures from Indian defense forces. Drones can strike with accuracy and stay unnoticed for hours.