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Published : 31 Dec 2025, 06:45 PM
In what is being seen as the highest level contact between the two belligerent neighbours since they fought a five-day war in May, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq have exchanged greetings in Dhaka while visiting the capital to pay their final respects to Khaleda Zia.
The exchange took place ahead of Khaleda’s Janaza, the Chief Advisor’s Office said on its Facebook page.
Jaishankar and Ayaz Sadiq met at the Parliament Complex in the capital, where they were seen greeting each other cordially. Both leaders were in Dhaka separately to attend the funeral rites of the former prime minister.
They also met BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman individually, conveying condolences on Khaleda’s death.
Pakistan’s Geo News reported that when the two leaders encountered each other at the venue, they shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
The meeting marks the first such interaction since May 2025, when Pakistan and India engaged in a brief, yet intense, conflict. It comes months after the Pahalgam incident, which led to cross-border clashes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The Geo News called the meeting a major breakthrough.
The latest conflict between Pakistan and India was triggered by an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which New Delhi said was backed by Pakistan, Geo News reported.
Pakistan denied its involvement in the attack and questioned the credibility of India’s account of the events, it said.
Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, artillery and drones during the four-day conflict, killing dozens of people, before agreeing to a US-brokered ceasefire, according to the report.
Political tensions between the two neighbouring countries were also reflected on the cricket field during the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025, as Indian players reportedly refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts.
Similar handshake controversies were reported in the Women’s World Cup match between the two sides, the Hong Kong Super Sixes, and other ACC events, including junior tournaments where teams also avoided customary greetings, it added.
The exchange of the pleasantries also made headlines in the Indian media.
The Telegraph said the brief and informal exchange came against the backdrop of sharply deteriorated India-Pakistan relations following the Pahalgam attack.
Despite a ceasefire, ties between the two neighbours have remained frozen, it reported.
