Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar arrives in Dhaka

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Ishaq Dar, arrived in Dhaka on Saturday (August 23) for a two-day official visit at the Bangladesh government's invitation.

Dar landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 2:00 PM on a special flight.

He was received by Foreign Ministry Secretary (Bilateral and East) Nazrul Islam, with Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Dhaka, Imran Haider, also present at the airport.

According to diplomatic sources, Dar will hold meetings on Sunday (August 24) with Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus and Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain. Following the discussions, six agreements and memoranda of understanding are expected to be signed between the two countries.

These include a visa exemption arrangement for holders of official and diplomatic passports, the formation of a bilateral Joint Working Group on trade, cultural exchange programmes, cooperation between the foreign service academies, collaboration between the two state news agencies, and a memorandum of understanding between the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and Pakistan’s Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).

The Pakistani foreign minister is also scheduled to meet with opposition leaders, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia and representatives of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated earlier that the visit aims to strengthen bilateral ties while also addressing regional and international issues of common concern.

This is the first visit to Bangladesh by a Pakistani foreign minister since 2012, when Hina Rabbani Khar travelled to Dhaka to invite then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the Developing-8 (D-8) Summit.

Dar’s trip follows Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch's visit to Dhaka on April 16–17 this year, when the two countries held foreign secretary-level talks.

The foreign minister was initially scheduled to visit Dhaka on April 27–28, but the trip was postponed due to heightened tensions between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir issue.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan has been in Bangladesh since August 20 on a four-day visit, underlining Islamabad’s renewed engagement with Dhaka.