Pakistan has expressed interest in holding foreign secretary-level consultations and reconvening the Joint Economic Commission with Bangladesh, aiming to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries. This initiative was discussed when Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, the Additional Secretary for Asia Pacific at Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met with Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Siddiqui delivered a letter from Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, addressed to Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser, Md Touhid Hossain.

Officials stated that the two sides discussed the necessity of resuming the foreign secretary-level consultations, the last of which took place in 2010, and revitalizing the Joint Economic Commission, which last met in 2005. A significant focus was placed on boosting trade relations and addressing the growing trade imbalance between the two nations.

Both parties expressed satisfaction with the recent visits of Pakistani trade delegations to Bangladesh and emphasized the need for product-specific trade delegations from Bangladesh to visit Pakistan as well.

Other key topics included collaboration in tourism, cultural exchanges, people-to-people ties, and addressing the ongoing issue of the forcibly displaced Rohingya population. Discussions also touched upon the importance of cooperation in international forums.

The meeting also revisited discussions between Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser and Pakistan’s Prime Minister during their meetings at the D-8 Summit in Cairo in December 2024 and at the 79th UN General Assembly in New York in September 2024. Additionally, the foreign adviser and the Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister met during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Apia, Samoa in October 2024.

Both sides emphasized the importance of strengthening regional and multilateral cooperation through platforms such as SAARC, OIC, and D-8.

Imran Ahmed Siddiqui was accompanied by Syed Ahmed Maroof, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

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