Pakistan, Bangladesh Move to Deepen Trade and Defense Relations

By Staff, Agencies

Pakistan and Bangladesh are exploring ways to strengthen trade and defense cooperation. On Saturday, Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Sahir Shamshad Mirza met with Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, signaling a thaw in relations following the government change in Dhaka last year, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down amid youth-led protests.

During their meeting, the officials discussed increasing significance of bilateral trade, investment and defense cooperation, according to a social media post by the Yunus administration. Mirza conveyed Pakistan’s interest in enhancing cooperation across multiple sectors and highlighted the significant potential for growth in trade and connectivity between the two nations, according to a press release issued by Pakistan’s armed forces.

“Our two countries will support each other,” Mirza told Yunus, adding that a two-way shipping route between Karachi and Chittagong had already begun operating, while a Dhaka-Karachi air route is expected to open within months.

In August, Pakistan and Bangladesh signed six cooperation agreements that are expected to deepen the bilateral engagement, which included visa-free travel for diplomats and government officials.

Meanwhile, a gift from Yunus to Mirza has stirred a row in India after it was found to allegedly feature a map showing parts of northeast India as Bangladeshi territory. India has not yet issued an official response, though it lodged a strong protest with Dhaka last year when a similar map was circulated online.

Since Yunus took over as interim leader, Dhaka has begun shifting its focus away from New Delhi and moving to strengthen ties with Pakistan in an effort to rebuild relations strained since 1971, when Bangladesh, formerly known as East Pakistan, gained independence. Millions of Bengalis were killed in the 1971 war, and Dhaka has sought a formal apology from Pakistan for the atrocities committed by its military during the conflict. In the aftermath of the atrocities, the then-Pakistani state minister for defense, Aziz Ahmed, stated that Pakistan “condemned and deeply regretted” any crimes that may have been committed.

Since the change of government in Dhaka, the legacy of the 1971 Liberation War has come under renewed scrutiny in Bangladesh. According to local media reports, in the first week following the transition, more than 1,400 sculptures, reliefs and murals across 59 districts have reportedly been vandalized, set alight or removed, including at the Mujibnagar Memorial Complex, where around 600 or more sculptures depicting key moments of the war were destroyed. This has sparked concern among freedom-fighter veterans and historians, who say that both the physical destruction of memorials and the narrative overhaul mark a significant shift in how Bangladesh is remembering its war of independence.