By Aminul Hoque Polash On 13 June 2024, Bangladeshโs current interim government, led by Dr Yunus, signed an NDA agreement with the United States. The explanation was a familiar one: urgency, and the need to reduce โreciprocal taxesโ imposed under the Donald Trump administration. But the way it was done matters as much as what was done. The agreement was rushed through without meaningful consultation with relevant stakeholders. And because it was a Non-Disclosure Agreement, the public had no way to know what was promised, traded, or quietly conceded.
The government kept repeating one line: nothing in the deal goes against national interest. Yet it never answered the obvious follow-up. If there was nothing to hide, why was the public denied the right to see it? Later, when a draft leaked from Bangladeshโs National Board of Revenue, the governmentโs claim, collapsed on contact with the text. This 20-page NDA did not read like a harmless confidentiality instrument. Page after page, Bangladeshโs interests were weakened. The authority to make decisions linked to national security, the economy, natural resources, and foreign relations was, in effect, handed over to a foreign state.
At the time the NDA was signed, media reports said the agreement included a plan to buy 25 Boeing aircraft and import wheat from the United States. Then, in August, Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin claimed that during discussions with US officials, they did not seem serious about selling Boeing aircraft. Biman Bangladesh Airlines, too, said it was not aware of any Boeing purchase plan. And yet, within just four months, Biman finalised a decision to buy 14 Boeing aircraft. That decision was taken at Bimanโs board meeting on 30 December 2025.
Under Yunusโs interim government, work is now underway to finalise this massive unnecessary procurement, valued at Tk37,000 crore, roughly 3 billion dollars. To speed up the process, on 27 August 2025, Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin was appointed Chairman of Biman. Then, on 14 January, Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, Yunusโ Special Assistant Faiz Ahmed Taiyeb (serving with the rank of State Minister), and Akhtar Ahmed, Senior Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat, were appointed to Bimanโs board. Each is widely known as close to Dr Yunus. The interim government has also finalised a decision to buy Black Hawk helicopters from the United States for the armed forces.
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In July 2025, the interim government signed an MoU with the US Wheat Exporters Association to import wheat from the United States. Under this agreement, Bangladesh will import 3.5 million tonnes of US wheat over five years. The contract set the price at 308 dollars per tonne, with a note that the price may be adjusted over time. But wheat is currently available on the international market at 226โ230 dollars per tonne. Already, under this arrangement, Bangladesh has imported 220,000 tonnes in three batches. Importing at inflated prices will raise the price of flour in the open market. That increase will spread quickly across food prices. The cost will land on ordinary people.
On 12 August 2025, the interim government approved a decision to purchase two bulk carrier ships from the United States, from Hellenic Dry Bulk Ventures LLC, for nearly Tk1,000 crore. The oddity is glaring: the United States is not even among the worldโs top ten shipbuilding and ship-exporting countries, yet Bangladesh is buying at prices well above market rates. And then comes the detail that makes the whole thing feel like a bad joke: both ships will be built in China. In other words, Chinese-made ships are being purchased not from China, but through the United States, at a higher price.
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The interim government has also signed a 15-year LNG purchase agreement with Excelerate Energy worth around Tk1 lakh crore (8.5 billion dollars). Under the Awami League government, Bangladesh had signed a preliminary agreement with Excelerate Energy in November 2023. Before that, Bangladesh imported LNG at competitive prices through long-term deals with Qatar Energy (signed in 2017) and OQ Trading Limited, Oman (signed in 2018). The stated idea behind Excelerate was competition, with supplies expected to begin from 2026.
But after the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, Excelerate Energy intensified its efforts to expand in Bangladesh. In September, Bangladesh-focused former US ambassador Peter D Haas left the US State Department and joined Excelerate as a Strategic Advisor. In October, Excelerateโs CEO Steven M Kobos flew to Bangladesh to meet Dr Yunus. After that, effective single control of LNG exports to Bangladesh moved into Excelerateโs hands. Under the interim governmentโs revised agreement, the price of gas purchased from Excelerate is set at 15.69 dollars per MMBtu, at least 2.5 dollars higher than the spot market. In April 2024, Bangladesh purchased LNG from the spot market at 9.5โ9.93 dollars.
On 30 December, the interim government decided to buy short-term LNG from Switzerland-based SOCAR Trading S.A. Although the office is in Switzerland, it is essentially the commercial arm of SOCAR, the state oil and gas company of Azerbaijan. Notably, on 7 December, Azerbaijanโs presidentโs two daughters, Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva, visited Bangladesh and met Dr Yunus. It was Dr Yunusโs personal intervention that drove the decision to purchase LNG from the controversial SOCAR-linked company.
The interim government has not limited itself to the United States. It has launched unnecessary and highly ambitious initiatives with other countries as well. These include plans to buy JF-17 Thunder fighter jets from Pakistan, purchase Eurofighter Typhoon jets from a European consortium, establish a drone factory under a G2G agreement with China and buy J-10CE fighter jets, purchase submarines from South Korea, buy T-129 ATAK helicopters from Turkey, and sign a defence agreement with Japan.
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Then there is the question of ports and terminals, where decisions today can lock a country into dependencies for decades. In November, the interim government signed a 33-year agreement with APM Terminals to build and operate the Laldiya Terminal at Chattogram Patenga. The Chattogram Portโs New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) is being handed over for 30 years to UAE-based DP World. And the Pangaon inland water terminal near Dhaka has been leased for 22 years to Switzerlandโs Medlog S.A..
Put all of this together and a picture forms. Dr Yunus has seized control of Bangladeshโs governing authority and, used it in two directions at once: to serve personal interests, and to satisfy those who โemployโ him by pushing through agreement after agreement that runs against the country and the state. The long-term damage will not be theoretical. Bangladesh will face deeper long-term loss, the economy will deteriorate, and ordinary people will be the ones left carrying the burden.
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And now comes the political insurance policy. To secure impunity for these actions and corruption, Dr Yunus has planned a referendum-style drama designed to deliver a โYesโ victory. He wants that outcome to serve as a shield. Beyond that, he is moving to amend the constitution to build a governing structure in which no future political government can undo the decisions he has made. Western powers are openly consenting because it would secure their long-term influence and business interests in Bangladesh.
The purpose for which Dr Yunus took control of Bangladeshโs governance, has been fully executed. The staged election on the 12th is meant to apply the final seal.
Aminul Hoque Polash: Former diplomat and security analyst.
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