News Desk :: Foreign affairs analysts in Dhaka are closely watching for political-level follow-up after the recent foreign office consultation (FOC) between Bangladesh and Pakistan, where critical issues such as an apology for the 1971 genocide and asset sharing were raised.<\/p>\n
Former diplomat and foreign relations expert Ambassador Humayun Kabir told BSS that the talks, led by Pakistan\u2019s foreign secretary, were significant as they came after a 15-year hiatus. He noted that upcoming political engagements, particularly the expected visit of Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Dhaka later this month, could determine the next steps.<\/p>\n
Kabir, who heads the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), said the issue of a long-overdue official apology from Pakistan was discussed during the FOC. \u201cIf an apology can help heal old wounds, there is no reason Islamabad should avoid it, especially if it means better ties with Dhaka,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University\u2019s international relations department echoed similar sentiments, questioning why Pakistan had refrained from apologizing despite precedents set by other nations such as France and Japan. He added that while the asset-sharing issue might not be financially significant, resolving it could pave the way for stronger bilateral relations.<\/p>\n
Ahmed also stressed the importance of keeping bilateral relations independent from the countries\u2019 relations with any third party. \u201cTies between Bangladesh and Pakistan should serve the people and economies of both countries\u2014particularly Bangladesh\u2019s interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that Bangladesh currently enjoys a stronger economic position than Pakistan, and future progress depends on Islamabad’s willingness to open its market to Bangladeshi products. \u201cPolitical goodwill alone is not enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Former ambassador Mahfuzur Rahman noted Pakistan\u2019s apparent eagerness to resume diplomatic engagement, with the FOC marking the first official-level meeting in 15 years. He said further political-level discussions during Dar\u2019s visit could shape the direction of future relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect to see a follow-up to today\u2019s foreign secretary-level talks and possibly a joint press conference,\u201d said Rahman, who previously served as Bangladesh\u2019s deputy high commissioner in Islamabad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Desk :: Foreign affairs analysts in Dhaka are closely watching for political-level follow-up after the recent foreign office consultation (FOC) between Bangladesh and Pakistan, where critical issues such as an apology for the 1971 genocide and asset sharing were raised. Former diplomat and foreign relations expert Ambassador Humayun Kabir told BSS that the talks, led by Pakistan\u2019s foreign secretary, were significant as they came after a 15-year hiatus. He noted that upcoming political engagements, particularly the expected visit of Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bangladesh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8268,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8266\/revisions\/8268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailysylhetersomoy.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}