The two South Asian nations, which fought a war in 1971, are drawing closer following a change of government in Dhaka in August 2024
Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Sahir Shamshad Mirza met with Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Saturday, as the two countries signal a rapprochement following a change of government in Dhaka last year, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign amid youth-led protests.
According to a social media post by the Yunus administration, the officials discussed the increasing significance of bilateral trade, investment, and defense cooperation during their meeting. Mirza conveyed Pakistan’s interest in enhancing cooperation across multiple sectors, while highlighting 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.
Mirza’s visit, the highest-ranking by a Pakistani official to Dhaka in years, follows the August 2024 ousting of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose government was widely seen as pro-India.
Meanwhile, a gift from Yunus to Mirza stirred a row in India after it was alleged to 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 focus away from New Delhi and moving toward strengthen ties with Pakistan in an effort to rebuild relations that have been 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 war-crimes committed by its military during the conflict. In the aftermath of those atrocities, then-Pakistani Defense Minister Aziz Ahmed stated that Pakistan “condemned and deeply regretted” any transgressions that may have been committed.
The legacy of the 1971 Liberation War has come under renewed scrutiny in Bangladesh since the change of government in Dhaka. According to local media reports, more than 1,400 sculptures, reliefs and murals across 59 districts have reportedly been vandalized, set alight, or removed in the first week following the transition. These include monuments 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 monuments and the narrative overhaul mark a significant shift in how Bangladesh is remembering its war of independence.
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