The Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, which was suspected of playing a role in fanning the unrest that unseated former PM Sheikh Hasina, has been engaging publicly with the members of the interim government over the last few weeks.
The High Commission officials and members of the interim government have engaged over a slew of issues from flood relief to student exchange programmes. These meetings have been published on the X handle of the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka.
The Pakistan-Bangladesh ties have been lukewarm under the Hasina government since Islamabad refused to apologise for the 1971 war crimes. The Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka kept a low profile over the last 15 years while it was blamed for backing candidates of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the 2018 Parliamentary elections.
“Honoured to meet Md Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, advisers to the Interim Government today. Matters of mutual interest including cooperation in the realms of media, sports, youth & culture and IT were discussed,” a post on Pakistan High Commission handle on Sunday stated. Pakistan did not offer any such proposals to the Hasina government, a source recalled.
The Pakistan High Commission last Friday promoted a post on X of a meeting between Pakistani students and one of the advisers of the interim government. The Pakistani students reportedly also helped flood relief efforts and this was published while India was blamed for causing floods.Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif also telephoned Md Yunus, chief adviser of the interim administration, on Friday. Sheikh Hasina, as the PM, hardly engaged any Pakistani PM and phone calls were a rare occurrence. A day earlier, Pakistan foreign secretary also met Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser on the sidelines of the OIC meeting. The Pakistan PM had also sent a letter to Yunus expressing condolences over the flood situation.The Pakistan High Commission is also actively trying to promote cultural ties – incidentally a point of contention between West Pakistan and East Pakistan in the 1950s and 1960s. The Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka also met BNP leaders after the ouster of the Hasina government.