Bangladesh rebuffs Pakistan FM’s claim that unresolved 1971 issues were 'settled twice'

Ishaq Dar said key issues stemming from the Liberation War had been "settled twice" in the past

Bangladesh has rejected a claim by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar that unresolved issues between the two countries related to the 1971 war have already been “settled twice”.

Speaking after the ministerial-level talks in Dhaka on Sunday, Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain said: “Of course I don’t agree. If we agreed, the problem would have been resolved in the way they claim, right? We stated our position, they stated theirs.”

Dar, who is also Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, had earlier told reporters that issues stemming from the 1971 Liberation War were addressed in 1974 and again in the early 2000s during then president Gen Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Dhaka.

“In 1974, the issue was resolved in writing. The document is historic and both countries have it. And later, [when] General [Parvez] Musharraf came here [in the early 2000s], he actually addressed the issue in a very open and candid manner. So the issue was resolved twice,” he said.

“Between brothers, once something is resolved, it is done, even if others may tell us to clean our hearts. Our religion tells us to make a clean start and move forward together.”

Bangladesh has long maintained that key issues remain unresolved. These include a formal apology for the atrocities committed by the Pakistani occupation forces during the 1971 war, when an estimated 3 million people were killed and 300,000 women raped by the Pakistani occupation forces.

Dhaka has also pressed Islamabad for the repayment of around $4.5 billion owed to Bangladesh, and the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in the country since independence.

Touhid confirmed that these matters were brought up again in the meeting, despite Dar's call for a clean slate afterwards.

Sunday’s talks in Dhaka, the first ministerial-level meeting in more than a decade, culminated in the signing of one agreement -- abolishing visas for holders of official and diplomatic passports -- and five memoranda of understanding. These covered trade and investment, cultural exchange, cooperation between foreign service academies, collaboration between the state news agencies BSS and APP, and ties between the think-tanks BIISS in Dhaka and ISSI in Islamabad.

Touhid emphasised the need to temper expectations of a breakthrough regarding the longstanding issues between the nations.

“You surely don’t expect that a problem that has lasted 54 years will be solved in a one-hour meeting,” he said.

“But both sides agreed that these issues need to be discussed and eventually resolved so they do not hinder relations.”

Dar described the meeting as “a great beginning” and said there was “tremendous potential” for cooperation between the two countries, particularly in economic and trade ties.