Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Thursday laid emphasis on strengthening ties with Pakistan to boost mutual cooperation and explore trade and business potential by overcoming certain hurdles.
“There are certain hurdles. We have to find ways to overcome those and move forward,” he said when Pakistani Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch met him at the State Guest Jamuna.
Acknowledging past issues, Baloch, the first Pakistani foreign secretary to visit Bangladesh in 15 years, said Bangladesh and Pakistan must find ways to “harness the potential between the two countries.”
“We have huge intra-market potential on our own rights and we should use it. We can’t miss the bus every time,” Baloch said.
She said that there is a need for a regular B2B interaction between the private sectors of two countries and exchange visits at all levels.
Unsettled issues need to be resolved to put ties on solid foundation: Dhaka to Islamabad
In January 2025, a delegation of the FPCCI visited Bangladesh and signed an MoU with the FBCCI, said the Chief Adviser’s press wing.
The Pakistan foreign secretary hoped that the upcoming visit of the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar at the end of April would further boost relations between the two countries.
The Chief Adviser said he always preferred closer ties with neighboring countries, including Pakistan, in the framework of SAARC.
He said Bangladesh and Pakistan should exchange more youth and cultural programs between the two countries to increase the people-to-people bonding. “We kept missing each other for a long time as our relationship was frozen. We have to overcome the barriers,” he said.
The Chief Adviser recalled his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in New York on the sidelines of the 79th UNGA in September 2024 and in Cairo on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in December 2024, saying that they were the key to making progress in bilateral relations.
He said Bangladesh and Pakistan will continue to work closely at multilateral and regional forums like SAARC, OIC and D-8.
Senior Secretary on SDGs Affairs Lamiya Morshed and Pakistan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Syed Ahmed Maroof were, among others, present.