Pak FM Courts Bangladesh Parties, Pushes for ‘Reinvigorated Partnership’

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has launched an intensive round of talks with Bangladesh’s political spectrum, meeting leaders of major opposition and emerging parties during his visit to Dhaka, in what Islamabad calls a “significant milestone” in bilateral relations.

Dar, who arrived on Saturday, met leaders of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, and the newly floated National Citizen Party (NCP), backed by interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus.

At the Pakistan Embassy, Dar held discussions with a six-member BNP delegation led by secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. BNP leaders said talks covered regional cooperation, reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and Pakistan’s desire to see “fair elections” in Bangladesh. Later, the delegation joined Dar for dinner at the Pakistani envoy’s residence.

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Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdullah Muhammad Taher also met Dar. Asked whether 1971 war-related issues were raised, Taher replied, “These matters are for the two governments to discuss. We hope the government will take them up.”

NCP senior leader Akhtar Hossain confirmed his group pressed Pakistan for a formal acknowledgement of the 1971 atrocities. “To enhance bilateral ties, Pakistan must address the 1971 issue,” he said.

At a press conference, Dar said Pakistan was entering a “new phase” in ties with Dhaka, pledging to work with all stakeholders — government, opposition, civil society, media and youth — to achieve peace and prosperity. He also highlighted shared positions on regional issues, including the revival of SAARC.

“We must work together so that youth from Karachi to Chittagong and Lahore to Dhaka can realise their shared dreams,” Dar said.

The visit is the highest-level Pakistani outreach to Bangladesh since 2012, when then-foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited Dhaka. Dar will meet Chief Adviser Yunus and the interim government’s foreign affairs adviser Touhis Hossain on Sunday, with over half a dozen agreements and MoUs expected to follow, covering trade, culture, diplomacy, agriculture, and media cooperation.

Officials said agreements include a visa exemption for diplomats, cultural exchange programmes, cooperation between foreign service academies, a joint trade and investment group, and MoUs on strategic studies and news agency collaboration. Talks are also advanced on pacts between Bangladesh’s BSTI and Pakistan’s Halal Authority, as well as their agricultural research bodies.

The thaw in ties comes after last year’s fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government, whose war crimes trials against collaborators of 1971 atrocities had kept relations with Islamabad at their lowest in decades. Yunus’s interim government has since recalibrated foreign policy, with ties with India cooling and space opening up for renewed engagement with Pakistan.

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