ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Bangladesh have signaled a gradual easing of tensions as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza held meetings with senior civilian and military leadership in Dhaka to discuss defense and security cooperation, Pakistan’s military said on Monday.
Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one nation, but they split in 1971 after a bloody civil war, which saw the part previously referred to as East Pakistan seceding to form the independent nation of Bangladesh.
In the years since, Bangladeshi leaders, particularly former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, chose to maintain close ties with India, Pakistan’s arch-rival. Ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh have warmed up since Hasina’s ouster as a result of a student-led uprising in August 2024, with both sides cautiously reopening diplomatic channels.
In January, Bangladesh’s Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division, Lt. Gen. S. M. Kamr-ul-Hassan, undertook a rare multi-day visit to Pakistan. In August, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Dhaka for official talks. Mirza’s visit marks the latest in this sequence of renewed high-level contacts.
“Both sides held detailed discussion on the evolving global and regional environment and security situation and recognized the importance of strengthening bilateral defense and security cooperation,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
