Bangladesh and Pakistan are set to hold a foreign minister-level bilateral meeting in Dhaka today after more than a decade in a move to boost cooperation in trade, connectivity and other areas between the two nations.
Pakistan鈥檚 deputy prime minister and foreign minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, who arrived in Dhaka on Saturday on a two-day visit, will lead Pakistan to the talks at the State Guest House Padma, while Bangladesh foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain will lead the Bangladesh side.
Visiting Pakistan鈥檚 commerce minister Jam Kamal Khan, who came to Dhaka on a four-day visit on Wednesday, is also expected to join the bilateral meeting.
鈥楧uring the visit, the Deputy Prime Minister will hold important meetings with the Bangladeshi leadership, including chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, adviser for foreign affairs Md Touhid Hossain, and adviser for commerce SK Bashir Uddin. Discussions will encompass the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation, including regional and international issues of mutual interest,鈥� the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka said in a statement on Saturday.
Besides, an agreement on visa-free entry for holders of diplomatic and official passports, nearly half a dozen memorandum of understandings in different areas including the establishment of a trade and investment promotion commission, cooperation between Bangladesh Sangbad Sangshtha and Associated Press of Pakistan, cooperation between Bangladesh鈥檚 Foreign Service Academy and the Foreign Service Academy of Pakistan, cooperation between the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic聽 Studies and the Institute of Strategic Studies of Pakistan and cooperation in agriculture sector are readied for signing during the bilateral meeting, officials at Bangladesh foreign ministry confirmed.
The Bangladesh government has, meanwhile, approved a draft deal for signing with Pakistan, allowing visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic and official passports between the two countries.
Both Dhaka and Islamabad have appeared keen on enhancing their bilateral relations after Bangladesh鈥檚 interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus took over in the past year following the fall of Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5, 2024 amid a mass uprising.
Briefing the media at the Foreign Service Academy after the meeting, the chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam on Thursday said that the visa-free arrangement would initially be effective for five years.
He also said that Bangladesh had already similar agreements with 31 countries, including India. 聽
The Pakistan foreign minister鈥檚 previous schedule to visit Bangladesh in April 27-28 was cancelled amid escalating tension between Islamabad and New Delhi over a deadly attack in India-administered Kashmir.
The visit was officially announced after the sixth Foreign Office Consultation between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Dhaka on April 17, after 15 years.
Pakistan foreign secretary Amna Baloch led the Pakistan side in the foreign secretary-level meeting with her then Bangladesh counterpart Md Jasim Uddin at the State Guest House Padma in Dhaka, where they finalised the agenda for the foreign minister-level talks in Dhaka.
In the meeting, Dhaka once again called for a formal apology for the atrocities perpetrated by the Pakistani occupation forces during the War of Independence in 1971 and the return of Bangladesh鈥檚 due share of its pre-independence assets and foreign aid.
Besides discussions on further cooperation in trade, connectivity and other areas, it also demanded repatriation of more than 3.2 lakh stranded Pakistanis living in 27 camps in 14 districts of Bangladesh since its independence.
The overdue issues would again be raised in the foreign minister-level meeting, according to officials.
The last ministerial-level visit from Pakistan took place in November 2012, when the then-foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited Dhaka to invite Bangladesh鈥檚 then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina to the D-8 summit in Islamabad.
