This is going to be the first visit by any Pakistani foreign minister since 2012
Saifullah Ansar
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will travel to Bangladesh next month in a groundbreaking development that shows warming ties between the two countries after the ouster of the pro-Indian government in August last year.
This is going to be the first visit by any Pakistani foreign minister since 2012. Dar told a news conference on Thursday that he would be visiting Dhaka in February at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart.
Dar was giving an overview of the major foreign policy events and achievements of the government and future challenges.
The foreign minister also confirmed that Bangladesh Chief Executive Dr Muhammad Yunus also accepted Pakistan’s invitation to travel to Islamabad at mutually agreed dates.
Hina Rabbani Khar was the last foreign minister who travelled to Dhaka to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid for the D-8 summit.
Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh remained strained during the 15-year term of Sheikh Hasina. The Awami League leader never reciprocated several attempts by Pakistan to mend ties as she was aligned with India.
However, after her ouster in August last year following the bloody uprising, relationship between Pakistan and Bangladesh has seen a considerable improvement. There have been a number of exchanges between the two countries at the highest level.
Bangladesh has also lifted restrictions on Pakistani exports, allowing increase in the bilateral trade. Moreover, the two countries started direct trade through the sea.
