United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh and Pakistan will hold Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) in Dhaka on Thursday, marking the first such meeting since 2010. Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin and Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch will lead the Bangladesh and Pakistan sides respectively at the FOC to be held at state guest house Padma.   Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Baloch, who assumed the charge as the 33rd Foreign Secretary of Pakistan on September 11 last year, is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday to join the talks with her Bangladesh counterpart, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told UNB. Pakistan wanted to hold the consultations with Bangladesh as part of Islamabad’s efforts to strengthen the ties with Dhaka. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is also scheduled to pay an official visit to9 Bangladesh later this month. ‘March for Gaza’ demonstrates Bangladesh’s continued support for Palestine: Home Adviser Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam on Tuesday said there will be discussions on all issues of mutual interest as the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan is coming. Ishaq Dar’s upcoming trip to Dhaka will mark the first visit by a Pakistani Foreign Minister since 2012. Both sides, in their recent interactions, expressed satisfaction over recent visits of several trade delegations from Pakistan to Bangladesh and emphasised the importance of visits by the product specific trade delegations from Bangladesh to Pakistan. Cooperation in the sectors of tourism, people-to-people contacts, cultural exchanges, the issue of forcibly displaced Rohingyas and cooperation in the international forum were also discussed. Both sides recalled the substantive discussion between Bangladesh's chief adviser and the prime minister of Pakistan during their meetings in Cairo on the sidelines of D-8 Summit in December 2024 and in New York in September 2024 on the sidelines of the 79th UNGA. They also recalled the meeting between the foreign adviser and deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Pakistan on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Apia, Samoa in October 2024.

Bangladesh and Pakistan have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest as the foreign ministers of the two South Asian countries met on the sidelines of the OIC meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Both the dignitaries expressed satisfaction over the "upward trajectory" of bilateral relations. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ishaq Dar held the meeting with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Oragnization of Islamic Cooperation. Pakistan eager to hold foreign secretary level talks with Bangladesh to boost ties The meeting took place in a cordial environment, reflecting the fraternal sentiments from both sides, said the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka did not issue any media release after the meeting. During the meeting, both sides highlighted the historical, religious and cultural linkages between the two countries and further agreed to enhance cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, people to people contacts and cultural exchanges. The extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened on the evening of Friday (March 7) in Jeddah and discussed the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the plans for annexation and forced displacement from their land. Pakistani Deputy PM's visit expected, but not before April: Foreign Affairs Adviser In a press release issued by the OIC, the meeting started with a speech by Minister of External Relations of the Republic of Cameroon Lejeune Mbella Mbella, whose country currently holds the presidency of the Council of Foreign Ministers. Mbella stated that the meeting is being held amid new developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including calls for the displacement of Palestinians. He emphasised that this situation requires a moment of assessment and forward-looking vision, while maintaining the unified stance of our organisation on this critical issue, in accordance with its charter and relevant United Nations resolutions. Ambassador Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Additional Secretary (Asia Pacific), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan called on the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Md Jashim Uddin recently at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka. Bangladesh,Pakistani traders seek removal of customs ,non-customs barriers Siddiqui carried a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan addressed to Adviser Hossain and handed it over to the Foreign Secretary.