Two Bangladeshi junior ministers gave conflicting accounts on Tuesday of a purported new billion-dollar Boeing aircraft commitment claimed by a top US envoy, deepening confusion over whether Dhaka has actually agreed to expand its aircraft order beyond the deal it signed with the American planemaker in April last.

The confusion stems from a social media post by Sergio Gor, the US Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs, who wrote on X on August 30 that "President Trump and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh made another incredible Deal, with Bangladesh committing to spend Billions of Dollars to buy more Boeing Aircraft, significantly increasing their initial order."

The post, which US President Donald Trump reshared on Truth Social, offered no details on the number, model, or value of the aircraft involved, and gave no indication of whether any agreement had been formally signed.

When pressed by reporters on Tuesday, September 1, the two state ministers responsible for foreign affairs failed to give a consistent account of what, if anything, Gor was referring to.

State Minister-2 for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed said she believed Gor was likely referring to the aircraft purchase agreement Bangladesh has "already signed" with Boeing — an apparent reference to the US$3.7 billion, 14-aircraft deal finalised in April — and referred further questions to the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry. Her response suggested no new commitment exists beyond what has already been publicly disclosed.

State Minister-1 for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir, however, gave a markedly different answer, telling reporters that "there is a (verbal) deal" and that Bangladesh "will buy additional aircraft according to our needs" — language that implies a commitment beyond the April deal. 

Kobir characterised the arrangement as a "principal agreement to buy more," rather than a finalised contract, and declined to specify a number of aircraft, a dollar value, or a timeline. He tied the commitment to a broader ambition of transforming Bangladesh into a regional aviation hub, citing Ethiopian Airlines' fleet of roughly 150 aircraft as a benchmark and floating an eventual demand of 70 to 80 aircraft "over the course of the next 10 to 15 years," which he said would include both Boeing and Airbus jets.

Neither minister offered a number, model breakdown, or valuation for whatever new commitment Gor's post described. Neither could point to a signed document. The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, which has been the government's consistent and only detailed source on Bangladesh's Boeing and Airbus dealings to date, did not weigh in on Tuesday.

Pressed on whether the new commitment was being made under pressure from Washington, Kobir denied it, insisting the push for a larger fleet was driven by commercial necessity rather than diplomatic obligation. "This is not being done under pressure," he said. "This is being done according to the demands of aviation... If we don't buy aircraft and if we don't widen our network of routes, we will not be able to become a gateway and service passengers... It's [to] increase our revenue, turnover, in the aviation hub in the long term." Asked whether Bangladesh had the financial capacity to fund further purchases, Kobir did not give a direct answer, saying only that "according to our need, we will keep buying, and keep buying from where we can."

The muddled response leaves open the central question raised by Gor's post: whether Bangladesh has actually agreed to buy more Boeing aircraft than previously disclosed, or whether the ambassador's statement inflated an existing commitment for political effect. Gor's post came roughly a month after his three-day official visit to Bangladesh from July 30 to August 1, during which he met senior government officials to discuss trade and economic ties.

Background

The confusion arrives at the tail end of a year in which Bangladesh's aircraft procurement plans have expanded repeatedly, each time amid heavy involvement from Washington.

Bangladesh first raised its planned Boeing order from 14 to 25 aircraft in July 2025, during negotiations over the 37% reciprocal tariff the United States had imposed on Bangladeshi goods. That rate was subsequently cut to 20% effective August 1, 2025, and further reduced to 19% under a trade agreement signed with the US on February 9, 2026 — a sequence that has led critics to characterise the Boeing purchases as a geopolitical bargaining chip as much as a fleet-modernisation decision.

The first concrete deal materialised in April 2026, when Biman Bangladesh Airlines signed a US$3.7 billion agreement with Boeing to purchase 14 aircraft — eight 787-10 Dreamliners, two 787-9 Dreamliners, and four 737-8s — in what the airline called the largest order in its history. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in November 2031, with the rest arriving by October 2035.

Alongside the Boeing order, Bangladesh has been pursuing a parallel deal with Airbus. Then State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Rashiduzzaman Millat said in July that Biman intended to purchase 10 Airbus aircraft — four A350-900 widebodies and six A321neo narrowbodies — with a signing targeted for August 31. That target appears to have passed without a confirmed signature; Millat said on August 31 only that Bangladesh was buying the 14 Boeing aircraft and "also plans to lease" additional aircraft, without confirming the Airbus agreement had been finalised. Because neither Boeing nor Airbus is expected to begin new deliveries before 2030, the government has said it plans to lease up to 10 aircraft over the next year, preferably through dry leases, to address an immediate capacity shortfall. Biman currently operates a fleet of 19 aircraft, 14 of them Boeing jets; officials have said the fleet could grow to 43 aircraft once both the Boeing and Airbus orders are fully delivered, part of a broader roadmap to expand the fleet to 47 aircraft by fiscal year 2034-35.

It is against this backdrop — an already-signed Boeing contract, a stalled Airbus deal, and an active leasing plan — that Gor's claim of a further, "significantly increased" Boeing commitment landed on August 30. As of Tuesday, the Bangladeshi government had not produced a figure, a document, or a unified explanation to substantiate it.