Pak Foreign Minister likely to visit Bangladesh in early February

Islamabad, Jan 3 (PTI) Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has announced he will visit Bangladesh next month, the first for a Pakistani minister since 2012.

The announcement comes weeks after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus met on the margins of the D-8 Summit in Cairo last month.

Dar's trip to Dhaka will be the first visit by any Pakistani foreign minister in a decade, media reports pointed out.

Former Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was the last foreign minister to travel to Dhaka in 2012.

Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, Dar said he is likely to visit Bangladesh on or after February 5 after returning from a Malaysia tour from February 3-5.

Noting that Pakistan and Bangladesh "are rebuilding ties after the fall of the Hasina government," Dar said: "Bangladesh is like a lost brother. We aim to strengthen economic and trade cooperation." Dar also mentioned his invitation from Yunus and his Bangladesh counterpart during a meeting in Cairo.

The foreign minister confirmed that Yunus also accepted Pakistan's invitation to travel to Islamabad at mutually agreed dates, The Express Tribune newspaper said.

It called Dar's announcement of a visit to Dhaka a "groundbreaking development" that shows warming ties between the two countries after the ouster of what it described as "the pro-Indian government in August last year".

Yunus took charge as Chief Adviser after the then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power on August 5 last year following a student-led protest.

After the new-found bonhomie, the first direct cargo vessel from Karachi docked at Chittagong port in Bangladesh in mid-November, which officials said marked a major step in bilateral trade. The second one docked in late December.

Bangladesh has already announced the resumption of direct flights to and from Pakistan soon.

During their meeting in Cairo, Sharif had called for a strategic relationship between Dhaka and Islamabad, and said: “We are looking forward to strengthening our relationship with our brother-in-country Bangladesh.” Bangladesh, however, had asked Pakistan to settle the issues of 1971 to help Dhaka move forward with its relationship with Islamabad “once and for all for the future generations".

Yunus urged Sharif to settle the issues of 1971 to help Dhaka move forward with its relationship with Islamabad and said: “The issues have kept coming again and again. Let's settle those issues for us to move forward.” Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh remained strained during the 15-year term of Sheikh Hasina.

"The Awami League leader never reciprocated several attempts by Pakistan to mend ties as she was aligned with India," The Express Tribune added.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh's The Business Standard reported that Bangladesh has repeatedly wanted Pakistan to "seek apology publicly with a formal announcement" for the atrocities perpetrated against unarmed Bangalees in 1971 during the previous regime.

In February 2023, Bangladesh conveyed the same message to the then State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan too, it said. PTI MZ NPK PY PY

Source: PTI