Staff Reporter:
Dhaka and Islamabad today discussed the importance of holding the Foreign Secretary Level Consulta-tions between Bangladesh and Pakistan, last meeting of which was held in 2010 and meeting of Joint Economic Commission, last meeting of which was held in 2005.
The discussion was taken place when the visiting Pakistan foreign ministry’s additional secretary (Asia Pacific) Imran Ahmed Siddiqui called on Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Md. Jashim Uddin yesterday at ministry office here, a press release said.
Siddiqui carried a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan addressed to
Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser and handed it over to the Foreign Secretary, it added.
During the meeting, both sides recalled the substantive discussion between Bangladesh Chief Adviser and Pakistan Prime Minister during their meetings in Cairo on the sidelines of D-8 Summit in December 2024 and in New York in September 2024 on the sidelines of 79th UNGA.
They also recalled the meeting between Bangladesh Foreign Adviser and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minis-ter and Foreign Minister on the sidelines of Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Apia, Samoa in October 2024.
The discussion also covered the issue of strengthening cooperation to enhance trade and reduce the trade gap.
Both sides expressed satisfaction over recent visits of several trade delegations from Pakistan to Bangla-desh and emphasized on the importance of visits by the product specific trade delegations from Bangla-desh to Pakistan.
Cooperation in the sectors of tourism, people-to-people contacts, cultural exchanges, the issue of forcibly displaced Rohingyas and cooperation in the international forum were also discussed.
The importance of strengthened regional and multilateral cooperation through SAARC, OIC, and D-8 was also highlighted.
Siddiqui was accompanied by Pakistan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Syed Ahmed Maroof.
