{"id":119857,"date":"2021-11-01T15:49:05","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=119857"},"modified":"2021-11-01T15:49:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:49:05","slug":"a-golden-chance-for-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/01\/a-golden-chance-for-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"A Golden Chance For Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed has invited<\/a> Pakistani Prime Minister\nImran Khan to visit Bangladesh. She was talking to Pak\u00adistan\u2019s High\nCommissioner to Bangladesh Imran Ahmed Siddiqui during their meeting in Dhaka\non October 25. Pakistan PM Imran Khan should utilize this golden opportunity to\nvisit to Bangladesh for strengthening ties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime\nMinister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on October 25, 2021 reiterated her\ngovernment\u2019s desire for stronger trade ties and economic collaboration with\nPakistan. And that is the peak of the practice. Recent relations between\nPakistan and Bangladesh from 2013-2020 are not good, but in the changed\nsituation, this time the opponent, Bangladesh invited Pakistan. Thus, Pakistan\nshould pave the way to smooth the strained ties. Policy makers of Pakistan\nshould visit Bangladesh as soon as possible to pave the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent\nincidents<\/a>\nin Bangladesh surrounding the violent acts during the Hindu festival of Durga\nPuja have indeed created some distance between New Delhi and Dhaka. This\nfollowed issues like India\u2019s National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship\nAmendment Act, which had already caused tension between Bangladesh and India.\nDelay in the resolution of long-pending issues like the signing of the Teesta\nwater-sharing deal despite Dhaka\u2019s persistent demands, killing of civilians\nacross the Bangladesh border, as also the onion crisis have sowed some distrust\nbetween the two longtime friends. Pakistan should and must utilize this\nopportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relations\nwith Pakistan were strained almost seven years ago over the trial of crimes\nagainst humanity committed during the 1971 war of liberation. Pakistan then\nopposed the trial. Against this background, the two countries reciprocally\nexpelled diplomats for non-diplomatic behavior. The post of Pakistan High\nCommissioner in Dhaka was vacant for almost two years from February 2016. High\nCommissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui came to Dhaka in January last year after the\nBangladesh government approved \u2018Agrimo\u2019 (letter of credence). He met the Prime\nMinister for the second time on October 2021 after taking charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh-Pakistan\nrelations have been deteriorating since 2009. Relations between the two\ncountries continue to deteriorate. However, from 2020, Islamabad-Dhaka began to\ncome closer. And then this invitation seems to be quite significant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes,\nsuch an incident has taken place in the diplomatic context of the world. Which\nis now being practiced in the international arena. A few days ago, Imran Khan\nalso invited Sheikh Hasina to visit Pakistan. The influential Hindustan\nTimes<\/a> of India published a report in the\nBengali edition on October 28, 2021. Earlier, in a meeting with the Prime\nMinister on December 3, he also expressed Pakistan\u2019s interest in advancing\nrelations with Bangladesh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\nwants to improve relations with Bangladesh. The country\u2019s Prime Minister Imran\nKhan has sent a message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. A few months ago,\nPresident Arif Alvi ordered the Pak Envoy Imran to bolster the ties between\nPakistan and Bangladesh during the meeting in March, 2021. Prime Minister Imran Khan had in July,\n2021 spoken to his Bangladesh counterpart over the phone<\/a>\nand expressed his government\u2019s desire to deepen fraternal relations on the\nbasis of mutual trust, mutual respect and sovereign equality\u201d. Then there was Pakistan<\/a>\nand Bangladesh<\/a>\u2019s\nmango diplomacy towards each other in July and August month in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s\nHigh Commissioner in Dhaka Imran Ahmed Siddiqui handed over the message to\nPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganobhaban on October 25, 2021. On the other\nhand, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina highlighted Bangladesh\u2019s policy of\nmaintaining good relations and friendship with all. He said Bangladesh\u2019s\nforeign policy formulated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur\nRahman is \u2018friendship with all, not enmity with anyone\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nthe occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Independence and the Year of Mujib,\nBangladesh last March invited the leaders of India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and\nSri Lanka except Pakistan to Dhaka. However, the Prime Minister of Pakistan\nImran Khan sent a video message on the occasion. Now PM Hasina Wazed herself\nhas invited PM Imran to visit in Bangladesh. PM Imran Khan and policy makers of\nPakistan should understand the geopolitical scenario in the region. They should\nutilize this opportunity because Pakistan needs Bangladesh. Pakistan needs\nBangladesh\u2019s support in common international regional forum. Bangladesh is\ngoing to South Asian economic star. Increasing trade ties with Bangladesh would\nbeneficial for Pakistan. However, Pakistan needs friend in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nmeeting the High Commissioner of Pakistan with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,\nPrime Minister\u2019s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters that Prime\nMinister Sheikh Hasina has told the High Commissioner that South Asian\ncountries should be freed from the curse of hunger and illiteracy and work for\nthe welfare of the people of the region. Pakistan and Bangladesh with other\nregional countries should work bilaterally in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nHigh Commissioner handed over an original copy of the message of the Prime\nMinister of Pakistan Imran Khan to Sheikh Hasina. He also gifted a photo album,\npainting and video footage of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur\nRahman\u2019s visit to Pakistan as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to attend the\n1974 summit of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPrime Minister thanked the High Commissioner for handing over the historical\nmonument of Bangabandhu. The Prime Minister commended the publication of a\ncalligraphy book in Bengali, Pakistan on the occasion of the golden jubilee of\nBangladesh\u2019s independence. Ambassador at Large Mohammad Ziauddin and Chief\nSecretary to the Prime Minister. Ahmed Kaikaus was present at the time.\nAccording to the Pakistan High Commission, High Commissioner Imran Ahmed\nSiddiqui thanked the Prime Minister for supporting the implementation of his\ndiplomatic mandate in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expressing\nhope for further development of Pakistan\u2019s bilateral relations with Bangladesh,\nPakistan\u2019s High Commissioner to Dhaka Imran Ahmed Siddiqui said his country\u2019s\nPrime Minister Imran Khan had invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\nto visit Islamabad. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accepted the invitation.\nThe visit will encourage the two countries to work for mutual benefit and deep\nunderstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone\nis monitoring at whether Imran Khan accepted the invitation. India in\nparticular is looking into the matter. However, Sheikh Hasina did not announce\nany date for the visit. Sheikh Hasina is optimistic about strengthening trade\nrelations with Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nPakistan visits Bangladesh this time, there may be various agreements which would\nbe mutual beneficial for both states. By forming an alliance, Bangladesh, China\nand Pakistan can work closely for ensuring the greater interest of triad to\nsome extent for the region. Pakistan can offer Bangladesh to utilize Gwadar\nport and CPEC. Pakistan would be able to resolve the bilateral problems between\nBangladesh and Pakistan. Pakistan should fulfill the demand of Bangladesh.\nPakistan should formally apologize to Bangladesh for the atrocities committed\nby Pakistan during the liberation war period in Bangladesh. Because Pakistan\nhas a lot of responsibilities towards Bangladesh. Bilateral relations will be\npossible if Pakistan seeks formal apology to Bangladesh. However, Pakistan\nshould utilize this golden opportunity for their own interest. PM Imran Khan\nshould visit to Bangladesh as soon as possible. Pakistan should remember and\nthink that opportunity doesn\u2019t come again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\narticle was first appeared in Pakistan\u2019s leading daily \u2018Pakistan Today’ (https:\/\/www.pakistantoday.com.pk\/2021\/10\/31\/a-golden-chance-for-pakistan\/)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed has invited Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit Bangladesh. She was talking to Pak\u00adistan\u2019s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Ahmed Siddiqui during their meeting in Dhaka on October 25. Pakistan PM Imran Khan should utilize this golden opportunity to visit to Bangladesh for strengthening ties. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}