Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday (April 16, 2025) to hold the Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) on Thursday (April 17, 2025) after a gap of 15 years.
A Bangladesh Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Director General of the South Asia Wing, Ishrat Jahan, welcomed Ms. Baloch upon arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
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Ms. Baloch will hold talks with her Bangladesh counterpart M. Jashim Uddin at the state guest house ‘Padma’ on Thursday (April 17, 2025).
Officials familiar with the matter said no specific agenda was fixed for the talks as all areas of mutual interest were likely to be covered during the discussion.
“After such a long hiatus, it is difficult to prioritize topics in advance, but the talks will be comprehensive,” a foreign office spokesman said on Tuesday (April 15, 2025).
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The last FOC between Bangladesh and Pakistan was held in 2010.
Ms. Baloch will also pay courtesy calls on interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Foreign Affairs Adviser M. Touhid Hossain following the FOC.
Dhaka-Islamabad relations were at the lowest ebb during the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime, particularly since 2010 when Dhaka initiated the trial of hardened collaborators of Pakistani troops during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War.
However, the ties took a positive course since Mr. Yunus’ interim government assumed power after the ouster of Ms. Hasina in a student-led uprising on August 5 last year.
The foreign secretary-level meeting is being held ahead of the planned visit of deputy Prime Minister and foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Dhaka later this month, which will be the maiden visit by a Pakistani foreign Minister since 2012.
Published – April 16, 2025 09:26 pm IST
