ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar agreed to strengthen bilateral relationship with Bangladesh and maintain high-level contacts with its leadership, state-run media reported on Tuesday, as Islamabad looks to forge closer ties with the Muhammad Yunus-led government. 

Pakistan and Bangladesh, once one nation, split after a brutal 1971 war with Dhaka drawing closer to Islamabad’s arch-rival New Delhi. However, long-time Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted after her government was overthrown in August 2024. She fled via helicopter to India as Dhaka attempts to extradite her. 

Relations between India and Bangladesh’s interim government have been frosty since then, allowing Islamabad and Dhaka to rebuild ties slowly. Dar spoke to Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser, over the telephone on Monday, Pakistani state broadcaster said. 

“Pakistan and Bangladesh have reaffirmed their mutual commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations and maintain regular high-level engagements,” Radio Pakistan reported. 

Direct private trade between the countries restarted in November 2024, when a container ship sailed from Pakistan’s Karachi to Bangladesh’s Chittagong. It was the first cargo ship in decades to sail directly between the countries.

Dar discussed Pakistan’s increased regional tensions with India during his conversation with Hossain, in light of New Delhi’s “unfounded” allegations it was involved in an attack last month in Indian-administered Kashmir. 

Gunmen killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam tourist resort on April 22, straining ties between the two nations as India blamed Pakistan for backing the attack. Islamabad denied involvement and has asked New Delhi to share proof to substantiate its claims, something it hasn’t done yet. 

“The Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Adviser expressed concern over the current situation and emphasized the need for de-escalation and exercising restraint by all parties,” Radio Pakistan said. 

India and Pakistan — carved out of the subcontinent at the chaotic end of British colonial rule in 1947— have fought multiple wars and remain bitter foes. The two countries claim the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir in full but govern only parts of it separated by a Line of Control (LoC) de facto border.