Bangladesh and Pakistan have signed six agreements and memoranda of understanding, including a visa waiver for holders of official and diplomatic passports, following high-level talks in Dhaka.
The signing took place on Sunday morning at Hotel Sonargaon after a bilateral meeting between Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain.
The one-on-one session was followed by delegation-level discussions, during which the agreements were finalised.
The deals include one agreement, four memoranda of understanding, and one cultural programme framework. They cover a visa waiver for diplomatic and official passport holders; cooperation between the state news agencies of the two countries (BSS and APP); the formation of a joint working group on trade; a cultural exchange programme for 2025–2028; collaboration between the two foreign service academies; and an MoU between the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and Pakistan’s Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Dar was asked about unresolved issues stemming from the 1971 Liberation War, including demands for Pakistan to acknowledge wartime atrocities.
He responded that such issues had already been settled twice: first through the 1974 tripartite agreement, and later in 2002 when then-president Pervez Musharraf expressed regret during his visit to Bangladesh. “Islam teaches us to clear our hearts. You should clear your hearts. We must move forward,” he said.
Dar arrived in Dhaka on Saturday aboard a special flight and was received at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by Asad Alam Siam, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the first day of his visit, he met leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Nationalist Democratic Movement (NCP), and later attended a reception at Pakistan House.
On Sunday, he is scheduled to meet Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser, Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus.
SMS/
