RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar left for Dhaka on Saturday, becoming the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit Bangladesh in 13 years, the Foreign Office (FO) announced. Relations between the two countries have warmed since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August last year, with trade and diplomatic engagement showing notable improvement.
Calling it a “historic visit”, the FO said in a statement on X that Dar departed from the Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi and is scheduled to hold high-level talks with Bangladeshi leadership during his stay. “This visit marks a significant milestone in Pakistan–Bangladesh relations,” the FO added, stressing that no Pakistani foreign minister had visited Dhaka in more than a decade.
According to the Foreign Office of Pakistan, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will hold key meetings in Dhaka with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Adviser for Foreign Affairs Touhid Hossain. The discussions are expected to cover the full spectrum of bilateral ties as well as a range of regional and international issues.
Dar’s trip follows closely after the visit of Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, who recently met Bangladesh’s advisers for commerce and industries in Dhaka. That engagement laid the groundwork for advancing trade and economic cooperation between the two nations.
Both countries are now working toward the creation of a joint working group on trade, aimed at strengthening economic relations and promoting deeper collaboration in commerce, according to the commerce ministry.
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