ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus held a bilateral meeting in New York on Wednesday during which the two agreed to revive bilateral ties and expand cooperation in various sectors, a statement from Sharif’s office said.
The Pakistani prime minister met Yunus at the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York at the UN headquarters.
Historically bitter ties between the two countries have seen a thaw in recent weeks after the government of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina was dismissed following violent student-led protests in August. Both sides have since then expressed the desire to improve relations with each other.
Sharif highlighted Pakistan’s strong fraternal ties with Bangladesh, noting that they were based on common faith, history, and culture, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“He also emphasized that both sides need to work together to further strengthen the bilateral relations,” Sharif’s office said, adding that he called for fostering relations through parliamentary exchanges, people-to-people contacts and interactions among sportspersons, academics, artists and students.
The Pakistani premier also invited Yunus to undertake an official visit to his country, stressing the importance of regional cooperation and dialogue.
“Both sides agreed that there was a need to work closely at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels for the progress and development of the peoples of both countries,” the PMO said.
Separately, Yunus’ office said the Bangladeshi leader called for the revival of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as a top platform for cooperation in South Asia.
Yunus said reviving SAARC could be “a good way” to revitalize ties between the two countries and sought Pakistan’s support in that regard, his office said.
“Shehbaz Sharif promised his support for the initiative and suggested the countries move step by step in reviving the regional platform,” Yunus’ office said.
“Sharif said Bangladesh and Pakistan should open a ‘new page’ in their relations to enhance cooperation in various aspects,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani prime minister expressed his country’s interest in investing in Bangladesh’s textile and leather sectors while Yunus proposed an exchange of youth programs between the two countries.
“The two countries also discussed renewing foreign secretary-level talks and reactivating the joint commission between the two countries,” Yunus’ office said.
Established together as one independent nation in 1947, Bangladesh won liberation from then-West Pakistan in 1971. Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate during Hasina’s administration, which prosecuted several members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party for war crimes relating to the 1971 conflict.
Pakistan’s foreign office said Islamabad desired “robust, multifaceted and friendly relations” with Bangladesh after Hasina’s ouster.
Pakistan PM, Bangladesh chief adviser agree to revive bilateral ties and enhance cooperation
https://arab.news/bs4zc
Pakistan PM, Bangladesh chief adviser agree to revive bilateral ties and enhance cooperation
- Shehbaz Sharif meets Muhammad Yunus at UN headquarters in New York
- Both sides agree to revive SAARC platform, promote cooperation in various sectors
Peshawar church attack haunts Christians at Christmas
- The 2013 suicide attack at All Saints Church killed 113 worshippers, leaving lasting scars on survivors
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to protect religious minorities on Christmas, act against any injustice
PESHAWAR: After passing multiple checkpoints under the watchful eyes of snipers stationed overhead, hundreds of Christians gathered for a Christmas mass in northwest Pakistan 12 years after suicide bombers killed dozens of worshippers.
The impact of metal shards remain etched on a wall next to a memorial bearing the names of those killed at All Saints Church in Peshawar, in the violence-wracked province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Even today, when I recall that day 12 years ago, my soul trembles,” Natasha Zulfiqar, a 30-year-old housewife who was wounded in the attack along with her parents, told AFP on Thursday.
Her right wrist still bears the scar.
A militant group claimed responsibility for the attack on September 22, 2013, when 113 people were killed, according to a church toll.
“There was blood everywhere. The church lawn was covered with bodies,” Zulfiqar said.
Christians make up less than two percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people and have long faced discrimination in the conservative Muslim country, often sidelined into low-paying jobs and sometimes the target of blasphemy charges.
Along with other religious minorities, the community has often been targeted by militants over the years.
Today, a wall clock inside All Saints giving the time of the blast as 11:43 am is preserved in its damaged state, its glass shattered.
“The blast was so powerful that its marks are still visible on this wall — and those marks are not only on the wall, but they are also etched into our hearts as well,” said Emmanuel Ghori, a caretaker at the church.
Addressing a Christmas ceremony in the capital Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to protect religious minorities.
“I want to make it clear that if any injustice is done to any member of a minority, the law will respond with full force,” he said.
For Azzeka Victor Sadiq, whose father was killed and mother wounded in the blasts, “The intensity of the grief can never truly fade.”
“Whenever I come to the church, the entire incident replays itself before my eyes,” the 38-year-old teacher told AFP.
