PM Shehbaz expresses satisfaction over Pakistan-Bangladesh relations

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a telephone conversation on Monday with the Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, to extend his warm wishes and greetings on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr, Radio Pakistan reported.

In the years since the split between Pakistan and Bangladesh, Dhaka’s leaders — especially the ousted regime of Sheikh Hasina — stayed firmly in the Indian camp, preferring to maintain close ties with New Delhi and keeping Islamabad at arm’s length.

However, ever since a popular uprising that saw Hasina’s government toppled in August of last year, with the disposed premier fleeing by helicopter to her old ally India, there has been a thaw in ties between the two capitals, with trade and bilateral relations seeing a marked improvement.

“The prime minister expressed his satisfaction at the positive momentum in bilateral relations between the two countries, particularly in trade and travel,” the report said.

It added that the two leaders reaffirmed their shared desire to further strengthen bilateral relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh.

PM Shehbaz was quoted as saying that Pakistan looked forward to the visit of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to Dhaka in April and said that a trade delegation would also accompany him.

He also underscored the need to revive institutional mechanisms to reinvigorate the bilateral relationship at all levels, the state broadcaster added.

The exchange of cultural troupes to promote people-to-people contact was also discussed.

“The prime minister invited a Bangladesh cultural troupe, comprising old and new artists, including the legendary Runa Laila, to visit Pakistan,” the report said, adding that PM Shehbaz reiterated his invitation to the Bangladesh Chief Adviser to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

Earlier in the month, acting President Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani had said that Pakistan and Bangladesh have enormous opportunities to increase cooperation in the areas of trade, economy, culture, health, education, and people-to-people linkages for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

He made these comments at a meeting with the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan Mohammad Iqbal Hussain Khan who called on him at Aiwan-i-Sadr.

During the meeting, it was emphasised that improving air linkages and shipping connections between Pakistan and Bangladesh would enhance bilateral trade as well as increase people-to-people linkages.

Last month, Bangladesh and Pakistan started direct government-to-government trade after decades of troubled relations with imports of 50,000 tonnes of rice, Dhaka had said.

Direct private trade between the countries restarted in November 2024 when a container ship sailed from Karachi to Chittagong.

It was the first cargo ship in decades to sail directly between the countries.

“For the first time, we are importing 50,000 tons of rice from Pakistan, and it is the first government-to-government deal between the two countries,” Ziauddin Ahmed, a senior official at the food ministry in Dhaka, had said on the occasion.