Ishaq Dar is on a visit to Bangladesh. This is the first visit of a Pakistani foreign minister in a decade. Analysts believe that this visit is a new beginning in relations.
Pakistan's Deputy prime minister and Foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has arrived in bangladesh on a three-day visit. pakistan has described this visit as "historic" because, after more than a decade, a foreign minister of pakistan has visited Bangladesh. Earlier, Hina Rabbani Khar had visited Dhaka in 2012. There is a discussion about this visit, whether pakistan will apologize for its role in the 1971 Liberation War.
Why was the tour postponed earlier
Ishaq Dar was scheduled to visit Dhaka in april, but the tour was postponed due to the rising tension between india and pakistan after the pahalgam attack. Now on saturday (August 23, 2025) afternoon, he reached Dhaka, where he was welcomed by many political parties.
Meeting with political parties
After reaching Dhaka, Dar met the leaders of the bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami bangladesh, and National Citizens party (NCP). Pakistan's foreign ministry said that Dar appreciated the ncp leaders' "reformist thinking and vision of social justice" and stressed the need for more dialogue among the youth.
After the meeting, the NCP said that resolving the 1971 issue is important for taking the relations forward. Jamaat-e-Islami also demanded an early resolution of the unresolved issues. There is no statement from BNP yet, but Dar is scheduled to meet party president Khaleda Zia on sunday evening.
The 1971 issue is again in discussion
It remains a big question in bangladesh whether pakistan will apologize for its role in the 1971 war. Efforts were made to contact Foreign Affairs Advisor Tauheed Hussain in this regard, but he was not available. During the former Awami League government, Dhaka-Islamabad relations were cold. However, after the change of power last year, the situation has started changing, and now high-level meetings are taking place. Before Ishaq Dar
's recent visits,
Pakistan's Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan had also visited bangladesh and met the leaders there. Analysts believe that these visits will bring new political momentum to the relations between the two countries.
Experts' opinion
Former ambassador M. Humayun Kabir says that visits of this level bring momentum to the relationship and provide an opportunity to discuss every issue. He said, "Pakistan will have to take responsibility for the 1971 genocide and accept it publicly." In the foreign secretary-level meeting on april 17, bangladesh again raised the issue of compensation and apology. It
It was reported that 4.32 billion dollars of outstanding dues were demanded from pakistan, but pakistan did not mention any unresolved issues in its statement. Former ambassador Rashid ahmed Chowdhury believes that real progress in relations is not possible without apologizing for the 1971 genocide.
New agreements and MoUs
Six agreements and MoUs are ready between the two countries. These include issues such as abolishing visas for government and diplomatic passport holders and making a joint strategy on trade.
India and international eyes
According to BBC Hindi, analyst Leela Jansito says that india is keeping a close eye on this visit. She said that the relations between india and pakistan are not good, and there was a clash between the two countries in May. In such a situation, india is worried about the closeness between pakistan and Bangladesh.
American analyst Michael Kugelman called it a major geopolitical event in South Asia. He says that during the 15-year tenure of the Hasina government, the relations between the two countries were almost stagnant. Now a new beginning is being made, but its effect will be clear only after the bangladesh elections to be held in February. Kugelman believes that if the next government is formed under the leadership of BNP, it will try to improve relations with india, although challenges will remain.
India's tension increased!
Since 1971, india has been continuously supporting bangladesh in every field. Ever since Sheikh Hasina was removed from the post of prime minister and Mohammad Yunus became the head of the interim government, pakistan has had an opportunity, and it is engaged in increasing its closeness with Bangladesh. In such a situation, when Pakistan's Foreign minister Ishaq Dar has reached Dhaka, india is also keeping an eye on this because Mohammad Yunus is continuously making such decisions, which are not in India.
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