ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Bangladesh have agreed to strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation across all areas of mutual interest. The understanding was reached during a meeting between Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser, Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, held on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in Cairo on Thursday.
The leaders emphasized the importance of aligning efforts to achieve shared development goals and highlighted the significance of fostering people-to-people connections and cultural exchanges. They expressed satisfaction with recent initiatives, such as the visit of the Bangladesh Cricket Team to Pakistan and a concert by a Pakistani artist in Dhaka, as positive steps toward enhancing ties.
Both sides agreed to deepen cooperation within multilateral forums, including the D-8, and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening goodwill and fraternal relations between the two nations.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif underscored the historical, religious, and cultural linkages between Pakistan and Bangladesh, expressing a strong desire to boost collaboration in trade, cultural exchanges, and interpersonal connections. He called for exploring new areas of economic partnership and enhancing trade in sectors like chemicals, cement clinkers, surgical instruments, leather goods, and IT.
The Prime Minister expressed gratitude for Bangladesh’s recent measures to facilitate trade and travel between the two countries. These steps include waiving the requirement for 100% physical inspection of consignments from Pakistan, abolishing the special security desk for Pakistani passengers at Dhaka airport, and eliminating additional clearance requirements for Pakistani visa applicants.
Both leaders expressed satisfaction with the positive developments in bilateral relations and welcomed the increasing frequency of high-level engagements, reaffirming their commitment to fostering closer ties.
