ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday for a four-day visit aimed at expanding trade ties after years of strained relations, with meetings planned with senior officials and business leaders.

Kamal’s trip comes in the wake of the ouster of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a popular uprising last year.

Hasina, long seen as close to India and critical of Pakistan, fled to New Delhi after her fall, putting pressure on Dhaka’s ties with India. The political shift opened space for Pakistan and Bangladesh — one nation until the bloody 1971 war of independence — to edge closer again, with senior officials from both sides holding meetings at global forums.

“Federal Minister for Commerce, H.E. Jam Kamal Khan, arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday to begin a four-day official visit, scheduled from August 21 to 24, 2025,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

“The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral trade ties and enhancing economic cooperation between Pakistan and Bangladesh,” it added.

“During his stay, the Commerce Minister will hold high-level meetings with his Bangladeshi counterpart, senior government officials, and leading business representatives to explore new avenues of collaboration in trade and investment.”

Earlier this month, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Bangladeshi High Commissioner Md. Iqbal Hussain Khan in Islamabad, expressing satisfaction at the revival of bilateral mechanisms to rebuild ties.

Sharif recalled his “warm and productive” exchanges with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, most recently at the D-8 summit in Cairo last December, and said Pakistan was eager to broaden cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas while boosting trade and people-to-people contact.

The Bangladeshi envoy, according to Sharif’s office, briefed him on steps being taken by both countries to ease travel, trade and connectivity and voiced his intent to “further strengthen the historic bonds of friendship.”