Internationally renowned scholar from Pakistan Husain Haqqani has said the people of Pakistan should urge their government to offer a formal apology to the people of Bangladesh for all the atrocities that were committed in 1971. “To this day, no apology has been forthcoming.... an apology is the most courteous thing ...," he said who served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011. Referring to the general elections of 1970 in the then Pakistan and the Pakistan military, Haqqani, now living in the United States, said the military’s reaction in the form of imprisoning Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and initiating genocide against the Bengalis. He made the remarks in a virtual talk on ‘‘Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: An Iconic Leader of People’s Struggle for Freedom’’ organised by the Embassy of Bangladesh to Belgium and Luxembourg, and Mission to the European Union in Brussels on Monday. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen joined the event as chief guest while Bangladesh Ambassador in Brussels, Mahbub Hassan Saleh, moderated the event. Ambassador Husain Haqqani, currently a Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute, a top think tank in Washington, D.C., United States, said Bangabandhu is not only the greatest Bengali of all time, he is one of the greatest leaders emerging out of South Asia. He also said Bangabandhu is a great leader in the history of the world, and an iconic figure of struggle for freedom that the world has seen throughout the 20th century. 

The government has appointed Mahbub Hassan Saleh, currently serving as Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington DC, as the next Ambassador of Bangladesh to Belgium.