The Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Pakistan commenced in Dhaka on Thursday (17 April) morning, marking the first such engagement between the two countries since 2010.
Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin and his Pakistani counterpart Amna Baloch are leading their respective delegations at the talks, being held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministry officials confirmed. Jashim Uddin is expected to brief the media following the meeting at 5:30pm.
Amna Baloch, who took office as Pakistan’s 33rd Foreign Secretary on 11 September last year, arrived in Dhaka on 16 April. She was received at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by Ishrat Jahan, Director General of the South Asia Wing at the foreign ministry.
The resumption of the FOC comes at Islamabad’s behest, as part of efforts to revitalise bilateral relations. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is also scheduled to visit Bangladesh later this month — the first such visit by a Pakistani foreign minister since 2012.
Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam stated on Tuesday that the visit would feature discussions on all issues of mutual interest.
Recent exchanges between the two sides have conveyed satisfaction over visits by Pakistani trade delegations to Bangladesh, with both countries stressing the need for Bangladeshi product-specific delegations to visit Pakistan.
The consultations also covered cooperation in tourism, cultural exchanges, people-to-people contacts, the plight of forcibly displaced Rohingyas, and joint positions at international forums.
Both sides referenced high-level interactions over the past year, including talks between Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser and the Prime Minister of Pakistan on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in Cairo in December 2024 and the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2024. They also recalled the meeting between the Bangladeshi Foreign Adviser and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Apia, Samoa in October 2024.
