Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saw an opportunity to revive generally strained relationships just days after Sheikh Hasina’s withdrawal and Muhammad Yunus ‘ appointment as Bangladesh’s time chief executive.
Both officials have met half in the last few weeks, opening the way for a political reset with significant implications for South Asia’s politics, following a rare hot conversation between Islamabad and Dhaka.
Bangladesh has acted to end a specific security area at Dhaka Airport for Pakistani people, waived the need for physical inspection of packages, and welcomed the first strong cargo ship to dock at Chittagong Port from Pakistan.
These actions suggest a major heat trend. Pakistan and Bangladesh were after a single country before they split up following a terrible conflict in 1971. Since therefore, Bangladesh has developed stronger relations with neighboring India, Pakistan’s historic enemy.
Even though Pakistan officially recognized Bangladesh in 1974, the historical repercussions of the separation of East Pakistan in 1971 have long persisted in diplomatic relations, with persistently conflicted political and historical narratives also periodically stoking conflicts.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s parents, played a vital role in the isolation of Bangladesh, a tradition that added challenges to diplomatic relations. Sheikh Hasina’s relationship to India may have been influenced by that past.
However, Hasina’s ties with Islamabad were somewhat strained. Pakistan, which saw the tests when politically motivated, drew the ire of its own leaders from the Jamaat-e-Islami Party’s murder on conflict murder charges for events relating to 1971. In 2016, both countries expelled officials, more souring relationships.
On December 19, Sharif and Yunus met on the outside of the D-8 event in Cairo, Egypt, for their next meeting, taking place in New York City since September.
In Cairo, the two leaders expressed” satisfaction]with ] the increasing frequency of high-level contacts”, Sharif’s office said in a statement.
He expressed Pakistan’s “keen wish to increase bilateral cooperation, particularly in the areas of industry, people-to-people connections and social exchanges”.
In particular, Sharif mentioned the option for “new avenues of monetary cooperation” and industry in chemicals, concrete clinkers, medical goods, leather goods and the IT sector.
But, reflecting past scars, Yunus urged Sharif to” live the problems of 1971 to support Dhaka proceed forward with its relationship”, the Bangladesh official news agency reported.
” The issues have kept coming up,” he continued. Let’s settle those issues for us to move forward”, he told Sharif. It would be nice to resolve things “once and for all for the future generations”, Yunus said.  ,
Before Hasina came to power in 1996, Dhaka had never previously requested an apology from Islamabad for the “genocide” committed during its war of independence.
In response, Pakistan only described the events as “regrettable” during former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Dhaka in July 2002.
Sharif informed his federal cabinet that his nation was beginning a new chapter of its relationship with Bangladesh upon returning from Egypt after a “positive engagement” in Cairo.
Additionally, he made the announcement that a high-level delegation would travel to Dhaka in February of next year, a ephemeral visit that might alter the dynamics of South Asian alliances.
Regional reset
India appears to be the biggest geopolitical loser as Islamabad and Dhaka get closer as a result of Hasina’s fall, with once-friendly relations experiencing significant decline in recent months.
Hasina maintained a complex relationship with India throughout her tenure. That included a rail connectivity agreement, which would enable India to transport goods to its far-off-the-beaten-path states using Bangladesh’s rail network.
Additionally, Bangladesh approved India’s request to send experts to assess the Teesta River Project, a key bilateral water-sharing initiative.
However, following her ouster amid violent protests, Hasina fled to New Delhi to seek refuge. Since then, Bangladesh has formally requested India’s assistance in extraditing Hasina from court proceedings.
India has acknowledged the request, but it has not provided any additional information, highlighting that Hasina is staying in India for safety reasons.
When protests began against Hasina, she was in China, which has deep and wide ties to Dhaka’s defense establishment, having supplied 72 % of Bangladesh’s military equipment.
The modernization of Bangladesh’s military under the” Forces Goal 2030” has the potential to boost Chinese arms imports further.
As she aimed to strengthen ties with China, Hasina made sure to avoid alienating India while attempting to maintain a strategic balance between the two geopolitical rivals.
However, unlike its relations with India, Bangladesh’s ties with China appear unchanged in the transition from Hasina to Yunus. Yunus was quickly welcomed as the interim leader in Beijing.
On the UNGA in New York in September, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a call to Yunus. That same month, Beijing’s ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen also called on Yunus.
” No matter what changes have taken place in the domestic situation of Bangladesh, China’s commitment to develop China-Bangladesh relations remains unchanged”, Yao said.
In addition to their conversation, Yunus and Sharif discussed reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( SAARC ), a multilateral body that hasn’t held a summit since 2014.
The last summit took place in Nepal, while the planned 2016 summit in Pakistan was canceled after India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan chose not to participate under Delhi’s influence.
” I am a big fan of the idea of SAARC. I keep harping on the issue. Even if the summit is just for a photo session, Yunus said,” I want a summit of SAARC leaders because it will convey a powerful message.”