Why Pakistan is rushing to mend fences with Bangladesh

Publishing date: 02 September 2025

Published in: Al Jazeera

When the foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, landed at Dhaka airport on a windswept, overcast morning on August 23, it was the first time in 13 years that such a senior Pakistani official had visited Bangladesh, which had broken from Pakistan 54 years ago.

Dar, who also serves as Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, struck an optimistic tone, calling the “historic” tour the start of “a new phase of our reinvigorated partnership”.

Acknowledging a thaw in bilateral relations, he pointed to the “significant progress” made over the past year.

“We must work together to create an environment where youth from Karachi to Chittagong, Quetta to Rajshahi, Peshawar to Sylhet and Lahore to Dhaka join hands to face challenges and realise their shared dreams,” Dar said, naming cities across both countries.

His visit symbolised a breakthrough after months of diplomatic and military engagements between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Relations have warmed rapidly since the August 2024 ouster of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was widely perceived as being close to India, and who was forced out by massive student-led protests.

But Masood Khalid, Pakistan’s former ambassador to China, cautioned that the past continues to complicate trust-building between the two nations.

“The new government of Bangladesh has responded positively to Pakistan’s gestures. Clearly, there were artificial barriers to close relations that have now been removed,” he told Al Jazeera.

What was now needed, he said, was a “framework for deeper engagement, where constructive dialogue can dispel misunderstandings”.

Military and diplomatic engagements intensify

While Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladesh’s interim government, twice last year, few analysts expected such a swift improvement in ties, or the regular, high-level exchanges that followed.

In January, Lieutenant General S M Kamr-ul-Hassan of the Bangladesh Army visited Islamabad to meet Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir. In February, Bangladesh’s naval chief, Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan, followed, and two months later, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch travelled to Dhaka.