Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Dhaka on Saturday on a two-day visit, marking the highest-level trip by a Pakistani leader to Bangladesh since 2012. He was received by Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam at the airport.
Dar is scheduled to meet Bangladesh’s interim leader and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain. The two sides are expected to sign agreements on trade and other areas on Sunday.
“Discussions will cover the full range of bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest,” Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said. Adviser Touhid Hossain earlier noted that the “1971 issues with Pakistan” would also be on the table.
Dar’s earlier visit in April was postponed amid heightened Pakistan-India tensions after a deadly attack in Kashmir. The trip now comes at a time of shifting regional equations, with Dhaka-New Delhi ties strained since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster last August.
Islamabad called Dar’s trip a “significant milestone in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations.” Both sides have already expanded ties, launching sea trade last year and holding fresh talks in February to set up joint commissions for trade and investment. Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan visited Dhaka on Thursday, while top military commanders of the two countries met in Pakistan on Friday.
Despite warming ties, the shadow of 1971 still looms large. Bangladesh accuses Pakistan’s military of mass killings and atrocities during the Liberation War. Dhaka estimates millions were killed, and demands for an official Pakistani apology remain unresolved.