Pakistan Foreign Minister holds talks with leaders of various political parties in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held back-to-back talks with leaders of various political parties of Bangladesh, hours after his arrival in Dhaka to boost bilateral ties.

Dar, also the deputy prime minister of Pakistan, on Saturday met with the leaders of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.

He also met with the leaders of student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), floated recently with interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus’s blessings.

A six-member BNP delegation led by its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir held a meeting with Dar at the Pakistan Embassy in Dhaka. Shama Obayed, one of the BNP delegates, said their discussions focused on deepening bilateral ties.

Obayed added that the talks also covered reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), while Pakistan expressed its wish to see fair elections in Bangladesh.

The meeting was followed by dinner with the BNP delegation at the Pakistani ambassador's residence Abdullah Muhammad Taher, leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, which was opposed to Bangladesh’s 1971 independence from Pakistan, also met Dar.

Asked by the media whether the unresolved issues from 1971 were raised in the meeting, Taher said, "These matters are for the two governments to discuss. We hope the government will take them up." An identical question on Pakistan’s apology over the 1971 genocide and atrocities was asked to Akhtar Hossain, a senior leader of NCP.

“We raised this matter with them during the meeting, and we believe that to enhance bilateral ties, Pakistan must address the 1971 issue," Hossain replied.

Dar later held a press conference at his Pakistan embassy when he urged everyone in the gathering to visit his country to engage with their counterparts and contribute to this "new phase of our reinvigorated partnership".

Dar said Pakistan is committed to engaging with all stakeholders, including the government, political parties, academia, civil society, media and the youth for the realisation of common goals, including peace, progress and prosperity of the two nations and the region.

The foreign minister also noted that the two nations enjoyed a commonality of views on many regional and international issues, such as the revival of the SAARC.

"We must work together to create an environment where youth from Karachi to Chittagong, Quetta to Rajshahi, Peshawar to Sylhet and Lahore to Dhaka join hands to face these challenges and realise their shared dreams," he said.

Dar is the senior-most Pakistani leader to visit Bangladesh since 2012, with Islamabad calling it a "significant milestone in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations". Pakistan's Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan is already in Bangladesh on a four-day visit to enhance bilateral economic ties.

Hina Rabbani Khar was the last Pakistani foreign minister to visit Dhaka in November 2012 to invite the then Bangladeshi premier Hasina, to the D-8 summit in Islamabad.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam received Dar earlier on Saturday.

He is scheduled to meet Chief Adviser Yunus and the interim government’s Foreign Affairs adviser, effectively a minister, Touhis Hossain, on Sunday.

Dar is also scheduled to meet BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia tomorrow at her residence.

Over half a dozen agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) could be signed after his talks with Hossain relating to bilateral business and trade alongside diplomacy, according to officials concerned.

The two countries by now finalised several deals, including a visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders, a cultural exchange MoU, cooperation between foreign service academies, a joint trade and investment group, and MoUs on strategic studies and state news agency cooperation, officials added.

Talks were also underway for MoUs between quality control bodies, Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) and Pakistan's Halal Authority and between the agricultural research institutions of both nations, according to the media reports.

Bangladesh-Pakistan ties were at their lowest ebb during Hasina’s Awami League rule, particularly when it initiated in 2010 the trial of collaborators of Pakistani troops during the 1971 Liberation War.

A student-led street movement toppled Hasina's government on August 5, 2024, with Yunus taking over as the chief adviser of the interim government three days after she left Bangladesh for India.

The development paved the way for revitalising ties with Islamabad in the past year when relations between Dhaka and New Delhi turned icy, while India was previously seen as Bangladesh’s closest strategic and economic partner under Hasina's rule. PTI AR RD RD RD