Does Muhammad Yunus form an anti-Indian axis with Pakistan and China? Dhaka – Islamabad Conference 15 years later!
High-level talks between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be held on Thursday at the state hotel Padma. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Jasim Uddin will lead the host delegation. Both sides are expected to discuss various bilateral issues, including unresolved historical issues
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bangladesh Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus
Dhaka is increasing ties with Pakistan and China at a time when the Indian-Bangladesh relationship reaches the bottom of the rock. Will this newly discovered Bonhomie pose a serious threat to New Delhi? How will India deal with Bangladesh’s growing relationship with its declared enemies? The latest provocation in Islamabad comes in the form of a 15-year gap in the visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Consultation (FOC).
High-level talks between the two South Asian countries will be held on Thursday at the state hotel Padma. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Jasim Uddin will lead the host delegation.
The two sides are expected to discuss various bilateral issues, including unresolved historical matters between the two countries.
“The two sides are expected to discuss the entire scope of the bilateral issue,” said Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry official. He mentioned that since negotiations were conducted after such a long period of disruption, there was no fixed specific agenda and that all areas of common interest might be covered during the discussion.
The relationship between Dhaka and Islamabad remained tense during the 15-year reign of the former Awami Alliance government due to issues such as the trial of war crimes in Bangladesh and broader regional politics. Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have always included Pakistan’s role in the genocide, stranded assets return and reparation during the 1971 War of Liberation.
However, things have changed dramatically since the establishment of the interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in August 2024. During Baloch’s stay in Dhaka on Thursday, Baloch is expected to visit Yunus and Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain.
Chief Adviser Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said all issues of common interests will be discussed as an official visit to Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar later this month. In September, Yunus met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif outside the UN General Assembly, and both leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral relations.
In January, four senior ISI officials, including Director-General of Analytics Shahid Amin Afsar, visited Dhaka, marking a major shift in Bangladesh-Pakistan relations.
The Bangladesh military delegation led by Lieutenant General Sm Kamrul Hasan, Chief Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Department, also visited Rawalpindi, the Neurological Centre of Pakistani Military Institutions, from January 13 to 18.
The two countries have been historically alienated since the brutal Liberation War of 1971 – Pakistan has forced millions of people to massacre millions of people and raped hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi women – now showing signs of reconciliation.
(Input with IANS)
