Published: 12:02 AM, 05 September 2026
CPB warns govt against joining 'Mecca Pact' military alliance
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) has strongly criticized the government's inclination to join the proposed 'Mecca Joint Defense Agreement,' warning that entering the military bloc would deviate from the country's independent foreign policy and expose the nation to severe, multi-faceted risks.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, CPB President Kazi Sajjad Zahir Chandan and General Secretary Abdullah Kafi Ratan expressed grave concern over cabinet ministers' enthusiasm to enlist in the alliance even before receiving an official invitation.
"Bangladesh's national security rests on its self-reliant defense capabilities, a non-aligned diplomatic stance, economic strength, national unity, and an independent foreign policy," the party leaders emphasized. "Becoming an active or passive partner in foreign conflicts by joining a war alliance is entirely unacceptable. The people of Bangladesh will not tolerate steps that compromise our sovereign security to draw us into distant geopolitical rivalries."
Addressing the distinction between diplomatic relations and security blocs, the CPB statement noted that economic, commercial, labor market, and technological cooperation should not be confused with military pacts. The leaders vowed that any attempt to curtail the nation's strategic independence by tying it to a military bloc amid current global tensions would be resisted.
The CPB leadership further alleged that key ministers and foreign policy advisors within the ruling BNP government are attempting to frame the "Mecca Pact" as a unified alliance of Muslim nations. Pointing to the broader geopolitical picture, the CPB argued that out of the 57 Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, the military strategy of the primary core-Saudi Arabia, Turkey.
>>Ifat Zahir, AA
