Bangladesh and Pakistan are set to resume Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) on Thursday (17 April) marking the first such engagement in 15 years.
The last meeting of this nature took place in 2010.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary, Aamna Baloch, arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday (16 April) to attend the talks.
She was received at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by Ishrat Jahan, Director General of the South Asia Wing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting is scheduled to be held at the state guesthouse Padma.
Foreign Secretary Jasim Uddin will lead the Bangladesh delegation, while his Pakistani counterpart, Aamna Baloch, will represent Pakistan.
The discussions are expected to cover the full spectrum of bilateral issues, with both sides expressing a willingness to elevate ties to a new level.
Following the FOC, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, is expected to arrive in Dhaka on 22 April for a meeting at the ministerial level.
Bangladesh’s delegation will be led by Foreign Affairs Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.
In remarks to the press, Foresign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain emphasised that Bangladesh seeks a normal relationship with Pakistan, but not at the expense of historical truth.
“We want to move beyond the tensions of the past, but not by ignoring 1971,” he said.
The unresolved issues of Pakistan’s apology for the 1971 genocide, compensation claims, and the matter of impounded properties remain very much on the table.
Touhid Hossain made clear that while such sensitive topics may be sidestepped in courtesy calls, they will be addressed in formal discussions.
“We will not overlook 1971 in building our future ties,” he asserted.
Efforts to thaw relations gained momentum after an informal meeting between Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where both leaders agreed on the need to improve ties.
During the Awami League's uninterrupted 15-year rule, Dhaka-Islamabad relations were marred by tensions over the trials of war criminals and regional political dynamics.
However, following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government and the installation of an interim administration under Dr Muhammad Yunus, a shift towards normalising and deepening diplomatic engagement has taken shape—culminating in today’s pivotal meeting.
