New Delhi: Bangladesh and Pakistan are set to hold their first foreign secretary-level talks in nearly 15 years. Foreign secretaries from both sides will meet Thursday in Dhaka to discuss “bilateral issues, including unresolved historical matters between the two nations”.
Both countries last held Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) in 2010.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch, who arrived in Dhaka Wednesday, will lead her country’s delegation for the talks to be held at the state guest house Padma in Dhaka.
During the talks, both countries are expected to engage in wide-ranging discussions on bilateral issues, including unresolved historical matters that have long strained relations, Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Md Jashim Uddin was quoted as saying by Prothom Alo.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Syed Ahmed Maroof, hailed the FOC as a significant milestone in the bilateral relationship and called it a “meaningful step forward”. According to reports in Bangladeshi media, Pakistani officials have shown keen interest in expanding exports to Bangladesh, especially in sectors such as textiles and raw cotton.
“Pakistan sees potential for boosting exports to Bangladesh, especially if their products are price competitive,” Md Iqbal Hussain Khan, Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, currently in Dhaka for the talks, told state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
The envoy noted that Pakistan can offer Bangladesh its services as a transit hub for goods from Afghanistan and Iran—provided transportation costs remain manageable.
On direct air connectivity, Khan told BSS that, in addition to Fly Jinnah, another private airline—Sialkot-based Air Sial—has already applied to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) for permission to operate flights to Dhaka. “Fly Jinnah is currently awaiting fleet expansion before it can commence services to Dhaka, while Air Sial is likely to launch direct flights within two months of receiving regulatory clearance,” he said.
On unresolved historical issues, Dhaka’s envoy to Islamabad said such challenges are common in international relations and should not obstruct forward-looking engagement or economic collaboration.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Baloch is also expected to pay courtesy calls to key officials of Bangladesh’s interim government, including Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Later this month, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who is also foreign minister, is expected to visit Dhaka—the first such visit by a Pakistani foreign minister since 2012. The dates for the visit are yet to be finalised, according to Bangladesh’s foreign ministry.
In 2012, Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had traveled to Dhaka for a 12-hour visit. And in 2022, then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari participated virtually in the D-8 ministerial conference—highlighting the limited diplomatic engagement between the two countries during the now-deposed Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year tenure.
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Buildup to thaw in ties
This week’s diplomatic engagement follows a series of quiet overtures that suggest a broader shift in bilateral ties. As ThePrint reported then, Bangladesh in December last year lifted a longstanding security clearance requirement for Pakistani visa applicants—a policy implemented in 2019 amid heightened diplomatic tensions.
Relations between the two countries have long been strained over the 1971 Liberation War, which led to the creation of Bangladesh following a bloody conflict that claimed millions of lives. Dhaka has repeatedly called for an official apology and international recognition of atrocities committed by the Pakistani military—a demand that remains unresolved.
Still, signals over the past six months suggest governments of both countries are willing to revisit the issue within a broader framework of reconciliation and dialogue.
In September last year, Pakistan’s envoy to Dhaka met officials from the interim government to discuss bilateral ties, including the “question of 1971”.
While the topic remains sensitive, both sides appear to acknowledge that normalisation of ties may require moving beyond historical grievances.
And in December, Islamabad’s envoy to Dhaka met Khaleda Zia, leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which has historically advocated for closer ties with Islamabad. That same month, a Pakistani cargo ship docked at Chittagong Port for the first time since 1971, an event widely seen as symbolic of the growing intent to normalise bilateral relations.
In March, Pakistan’s Additional Secretary for Asia Pacific, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, met Md Jashim Uddin in Dhaka and discussed the high-level interaction between Chief Adviser Yunus and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in Cairo last December and during 79th UNGA session in New York in September.
They had then discussed resuming Foreign Office Consultations (FCO), last held in 2010, and reviving the Joint Economic Commission, which last convened in 2005.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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