POBNEWS24, Mymensingh, Oct 26, 2021 :Pakistan wants to improve relations with Bangladesh. The country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has sent a message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Dhaka Imran Ahmed Siddiqui handed over the message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganobhaban on Monday. On the other hand, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina highlighted Bangladesh’s policy of maintaining good relations and friendship with all. He said Bangladesh’s foreign policy formulated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is ‘friendship with all, not enmity with anyone’.
Relations with Pakistan were strained almost seven years ago over the trial of crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 war of liberation. Pakistan then opposed the trial. Against this background, the two countries reciprocally expelled diplomats for non-diplomatic behavior. The post of Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka was vacant for almost two years from February 2016. High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui came to Dhaka in January last year after the Bangladesh government approved ‘Agrimo’. He met the Prime Minister for the second time on Monday after taking charge.
Earlier, in a meeting with the Prime Minister on December 3, he also expressed Pakistan’s interest in advancing relations with Bangladesh. The Prime Minister said that day, Bangladesh cannot forget or forgive the atrocities of Pakistan in 1971.
On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Independence and the Year of Mujib, Bangladesh last March invited the leaders of India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka to Dhaka. However, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan sent a video message on the occasion.
After meeting the High Commissioner of Pakistan with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told the High Commissioner that South Asian countries should be freed from the curse of hunger and illiteracy and work for the welfare of the people of the region.
The High Commissioner handed over an original copy of the message of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to Sheikh Hasina. He also gifted a photo album, painting and video footage of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s visit to Pakistan as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to attend the 1974 summit of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC).
The Prime Minister thanked the High Commissioner for handing over the historical monument of Bangabandhu. The Prime Minister commended the publication of a calligraphy book in Bengali, Pakistan on the occasion of the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence. Ambassador at Large Mohammad Ziauddin and Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. Ahmed Kaikaus was present at the time. According to the Pakistan High Commission, High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui thanked the Prime Minister for supporting the implementation of his diplomatic mandate in Bangladesh.
