As the two South Asian countries attempt to rekindle relations amid Dhaka’s strained ties with India, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has met with senior Bangladeshi officials and politicians, including Touhid Hossain, the country’s top foreign affairs adviser.
Islamabad described the visit as “historical” and a “significant milestone in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations” and that Dar was the most senior Pakistani official to visit Dhaka since 2012.
Since Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Bangladesh’s prime minister last August, there have been fewer strained relations between Dhaka and Islamabad, which has led to her emigrating to New Delhi. Hasina was viewed as more in favor of India.
According to reports, the two countries have eased visa requirements for travel between them, making Dar’s visit come just days after.
On Sunday, Pakistan and Bangladesh are expected to sign a number of agreements, including ones relating to trade. The two nations expanded government-to-government commerce in February last year as they started sea trade.
After meeting with Bangladesh’s commerce adviser Sheikh Bashiruddin on Sunday morning, Dar and Commerce Minister Jamal Khan and Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs discussed ways to promote economic and commercial cooperation, with a particular emphasis on boosting trade and encouraging connectivity.
Local carriers are also looking into getting local carriers’ approvals for direct Dhaka-Karachi flights, according to Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star.
Dar will meet Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s interim leader, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
Dar emphasized his country’s “strong desire to forge a cooperative and forward-looking relationship with Bangladesh” at a press conference held on Saturday at the Pakistani High Commission in Dhaka.
Stronger and more active
The top Pakistani diplomat also met with Jamaat-e-Islami political delegates from Bangladesh, which supported Pakistan’s partition and helped create Bangladesh in 1971.
After the meeting, Jamaat-e-Islami’s deputy leader Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher addressed reporters about how to strengthen and strengthen relations with the brotherly Muslim state of Pakistan in the coming days.
Dar also met with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leadership and the newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP), which was responsible for the uprising last year.
Top military leaders from both nations sat down in Pakistan on Friday.
In Dhaka, Pakistani Minister Khan agreed to establish joint commissions to promote trade and investment a day earlier.
During the 1971 war, East Pakistan reunified into Bangladesh, the Pakistani military was accused of carrying out numerous atrocities. Many Dhaka residents still demand Islamabad apologise for the killings, which hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis estimate to be the millions.
India, which almost encircles Bangladesh’s 170 million people, leaned heavily on the island nation after 1971.
However, Yunus has pressed for India to return Hasina, who is still refusing to testify against charges of crimes against humanity.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply