At a foreign minister-level meeting held in Dhaka on Sunday, Bangladesh and Pakistan reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening their longstanding and multifaceted bilateral relations, based on mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation.
"Pakistan is our important neighbour in South Asia. The relation between Bangladesh and Pakistan is multifaceted and historical. We vowed to take ahead the existing relations," Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain told a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy after the meeting.
Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain and Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, led their respective sides.
Touhid Hossain said various issues, including unresolved issues of the past, trade and commerce, health, education and sports, were discussed in the meeting.
During the meeting, the two sides stressed strengthening trade relations and expanding investment, as yearly turnover between the countries is below $ 1 billion, he said.
The foreign adviser said Bangladesh sought access to Pakistan markets under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) in textiles, energy, medicine industry, agriculture, fisheries and livestock and information technology sectors.
Pakistan also talked about exporting energy to Bangladesh, he mentioned.
"In the transport and communication sector, shipping services between Chattogram and Karachi have begun, but the service is not regular. We emphasised making the service regular," he said.
In view of flight operations, two airlines have been given an initial permit and a details workout is underway to introduce direct flights between the two countries with a view to boosting trade and commerce as well as tourism and other sectors, he said.
The adviser said both sides talked about extending cooperation in the field of higher education, especially providing scholarships to Bangladeshi students.
He said both sides agreed on extending cooperation in medical education, medicines, engineering and technology sectors.
"Apart from bilateral issues, we talked about extending cooperation in regional issues like SAARC," he said.
About atrocities in Gaza, both sides expressed their opinions on stopping the atrocities there, and both sides opposed using starvation as a weapon in Gaza.
On the Rohingya issue, Bangladesh sought Pakistan's cooperation for resolving the crisis through the safe return of the Rohingyas to their homeland, Myanmar, he said.
He said the two countries signed one agreement and five memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
The agreement allows visa-free entry for holders of diplomatic and official passports. The MoUs cover the establishment of a joint working group on trade and commerce, cooperation between national news agencies - Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), collaboration between the foreign service academies of both countries, and ties between the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and its Pakistani counterpart.
Ishaq Dar arrived in Dhaka on Saturday on a two-day official visit at the invitation of the government of Bangladesh.
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