Delhi-Islamabad Tension: Pak FM’s Dhaka visit postponed

Diplomatic Correspondent :

The two-day visit of the deputy prime minister and also the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar to Dhaka has been postponed amid the escalating tensions between Delhi-Islambad over the killing of tourists in Kashmir.
“Owing to unforeseen circumstances, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan is unable to undertake the visit to Bangladesh on 27-28 April. The new dates for the visit will be finalised through mutual consultation,” quoting Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, its high commission in Dhaka shared the information on Thursday.
According to Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was set to arrive in Dhaka on Sunday for a two-day official visit, marking the first high-level engagement between the two nations in over a decade.
The visit, described by officials as a major step forward in Bangladesh-Pakistan relations, is seen to culminate in the signing of
several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), though the exact number remains unconfirmed.
Before Dar’s visit, both Dhaka and Islamabad held the sixth Foreign Secretary Level Bilateral Consultations (FSLC) between at the State Guest House Padma in the city after 15 years.
Foreign Secretary Md Jasim Uddin led the Bangladesh side while his Pakistani counterpart Amna Baloch led her team to talk on multifaceted issues to carry forward the bilateral relations.
About the meeting, Jasim Uddin said that he raised the historically unresolved issues with Pakistan, such as the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis, rightful share of undivided assets, transfer of foreign aid sent for victims of the 1970 cyclone amounting $4.52 billion, and an official apology for the genocide committed by the then Pakistani armed forces in 1971.
He further said that the unresolved issues would be raised in different engagements with Pakistan to consolidate the bilateral issues.
Soon after the fall of Awami League government in a mass upsurge in July-August last year, the relation between Dhaka-Islamabad began to accelerate from its dormant condition.
It is expected that economic cooperation, easier visa processes, and stronger people-to-people connections would be expedited following high profile meeting including the visit of Ishaq Dar.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Dar was scheduled to land in Dhaka on Sunday afternoon and depart Monday evening.
Later he was set to hold bilateral talks with Bangladesh’s Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain at the State Guest House Padma, followed by a courtesy call on Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus.
A meeting with members of the business community was also scheduled. But now the meeting has been postponed.