Bangladesh and Pakistan leaders agree to boost ties

Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who met Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the sidelines of a conference in Egypt, said Thursday he had "agreed to strengthen relations" with Pakistan, a move likely to further test his country's frosty relations with India.

  

ChiefAdviserGoB / X

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets with Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus at the D-8 summit in Cairo, Egypt, December 19, 2024.

Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one nation but split in a brutal 1971 war, with Bangladesh then drawing closer to Pakistan's rival India.

But Dhaka's ties with New Delhi have frayed after a student-led revolution in August toppled leader Sheikh Hasina, who had the backing of India and now lives there in exile.

'Want to resolve greivances'

Yunus said he wanted to resolve outstanding grievances from Dhaka's 1971 bloody separation from Islamabad.

"The issues have kept coming again and again," Yunus told Sharif, according to a statement from his office. "Let's settle those issues for us to move forward."

Sharif said he had a "warm and cordial exchange" with Yunus.

"Together, we reaffirmed our commitment to deepen bilateral and multilateral collaboration," he said on social media platform X.

Both men "agreed to strengthen relations between the two countries through increased trade, commerce, and exchange of sports and cultural delegations" according to a statement from Yunus' office.

Thawing relations

In November, the first cargo ship in decades to sail directly from Pakistan to Bangladesh successfully unloaded its containers in the port of Chittagong.

The leaders were taking part in a Cairo summit of eight Muslim-majority countries, the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation.

Yunus said he was determined to revive the moribund eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) -- largely stalled due arguments between Islamabad and New Delhi.

"This is a top priority," Yunus told Sharif. "I want a summit of SAARC leaders even if it is only for a photo session, because that will carry a strong message".