A number of intelligence agencies have reportedly identified Pakistan's ISI, the nation’s largest intelligence gathering body, and its Chinese ally as key players in agitating protests and subversion that compelled Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina to flee the country according to a Times of India report.

The involvement of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, in converting protests over quotas into efforts to establish a regime favourable to Pakistan and China is a key marker in this analysis and has been revealed according to the report. As such, Islami Chhatra Shibir is seen as having played a leading role in undermining the previous Awami League government.

One intelligence official, unnamed in the newspaper, was quoted by the leading Indian daily as saying "In the wake of the strengthening ties between the Indian and Bangladeshi governments, the ISI-backed Jamaat-e-Islami had received substantial financial backing earlier this year to destabilise the Sheikh Hasina government. A significant portion of this funding is believed to have originated from Chinese entities operating in Pakistan."

The Islami Chhatra Shibir, known across southern Asia for its own anti-India stance and jihadist agenda, has been under Indian intelligence surveillance for some time. This is primarily down to its activities in regions adjacent to Bangladesh as well as its local affiliation with the ISI-backed group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami.

Islami Chhatra Shibir in the past has been known to capture political opponents and cut their tendons. In recent years the group has been targetted by the now deposed Awami League with random mass arrests.

Evidence now reportedly points to ICS members undergoing training in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Quoting the same, or potentially another intelligence source, the Times of India reported that the main objective of these foreign groups was to install a Taliban-like administration in Dhaka with the help of Pakistan’s ISI.

Former Prime Minister Hasina, now ousted and hiding out in northern India, had tried balancing her relations with China and India. Her apparently neutral stance did not please the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing though, despite no outwardly hostile rhetoric from China to this end in recent months.

The involvement of Beijing became more apparent though as China viewed a Pakistani-inclined government in Dhaka as more favourable to wider regional aspirations in the Belt and Road region. "The support from China's Ministry of State and Security is also suspected to have extended a helping hand as Beijing has been wary of Hasina's 'balancing act' in its dealings with India and China. A government in Dhaka over which Pakistan has leverage will surely better serve Beijing's interests," said the intelligence source.