Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar scheduled to reach Dhaka on Aug 23

Foreign Advisor Touhid says he has no role in ties between India and Pakistan just as India concerning relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is set to visit Bangladesh as part of efforts to enhance communication between the two South Asian countries.

He will arrive in Dhaka on Aug 23, foreign ministry officials said on Monday.

The following day, he is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Foreign Advisor Touhid Hossain.

Earlier, Ishaq Dar was scheduled to visit Dhaka from Apr 26 to 28, but the trip was suspended amid tensions between India and Pakistan following an attack on tourists in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir.

On Monday, after an event at the Foreign Service Academy, the foreign advisor responded to journalists’ questions on the visit.

Asked about the itinerary, he said: “We have issues and matters of interest involving trade and commerce with Pakistan. Everything that defines the relationship will be on the table.

“How far we’ll be able to move forward, you’ll know after the meeting ends.”

Referring to the interim government’s efforts to normalise ties with Pakistan, Touhid said: “What we’ve been saying - consistently over the past year - is that we want normal relations with Pakistan.

“It’s not something grand, but we’ve moved away from a stance where we deliberately chose not to maintain good relations with them.

“We want the kind of relations with Pakistan that we have with any other country, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”

Asked whether issues like Pakistan’s apology for the genocide during Bangladesh’s Liberation War and reparations will be on the table, the advisor said: “Every issue will be on the table.

“What couldn’t be done in 50 years isn’t something we’ll suddenly achieve in six months. We’ll proceed pragmatically, and we don’t want one issue to block progress on another.”

In response to a question on whether India’s concerns over relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan are being taken into account, he said: “The thing is, I didn’t decide what kind of relations India and Pakistan will have. Similarly, India surely won’t decide ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan.”

Meanwhile, a meeting among Bangladesh, Pakistan, and China was recently held in Kunming, being described as a tripartite cooperation initiative.

Chinese Ambassador to Dhaka Yao Wen recently said that ambassadors of South Asian countries were also briefed in Beijing about this meeting and suggested that other South Asian countries could also join this platform.

Touhid described it as “an informal meeting” and said: “We’d like to see it expand with one or two more countries joining.”