ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Bangladesh have resolved to revive their “old connections” and enhance trade and youth linkages, the Pakistani foreign office said on Sunday, following Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s meeting with Bangladesh’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus in Dhaka.
Dar arrived in Bangladesh on a high-profile visit on Saturday in a bid to reset relations, which were scarred by the bloody 1971 conflict but have been reshaped by shifting regional power balances in recent months.
Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal has been in Dhaka this week, discussing trade and agricultural collaboration, while Pakistan’s foreign secretary Amna Baloch held in April the first bilateral consultations with Bangladesh in 15 years.
Dar met Yunus on Sunday and apprised the Bangladeshi chief adviser of his engagements in Dhaka and the key outcomes of his two-day visit, thanking for the “warm hospitality” extended to him and his delegation, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“The discussion covered revival of old connections between the two countries, promoting youth linkages, enhancing connectivity, and augmenting trade and economic cooperation,” the foreign office said after the meeting.
