Islamabad, Pakistan – When Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar landed at Dhaka Airport on August 23, it was the high-ranking Pakistani official visiting Bangladesh, a country that broke into from Pakistan 54 years ago.
Dar, who also served as Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, put forward an optimistic tone with an optimistic attitude, calling the “historic” tour the beginning of a “new phase in which we revitalize our partnership”.
He acknowledged the melting of bilateral relations and pointed to “significant progress” over the past year.
“We must work together to create an environment from Karachi to Chittagong, Quetta, Rajshahi, Peshawar, Sirhet and Lahore to Dhaka, all of which can face challenges and realize their shared dreams,” Dada said.
His visit symbolized a breakthrough after months of diplomatic and military activities between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Relations have heated up rapidly since the removal of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, widely believed to be close to India and forced by large-scale student-led protests.
But former Pakistani ambassador Masood Khalid warned that the past continues to complicate the construction of trust between the two countries.
“Bangladesh's new government has responded positively to Pakistan's gestures. Obviously, the human barrier to intimacy has been eliminated now,” he told Al Jazeera.
What is needed now is a “more in-depth engagement framework where constructive dialogue can eliminate misunderstandings”, he said.
Military and diplomatic wars intensify
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the leader of the Bangladesh interim government, and twice last year few analysts expected such a swift connection or subsequent regular high-level exchanges.
In January, Bangladesh Army Lieutenant General SM Kamr-ul-Hassan visited Islamabad to meet with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir. In February, Bangladesh's Navy Chief Mohammad Nazmul Hassan followed, and two months later, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Amna Baloch traveled to Dhaka.
Pakistan's four-day conflict with India in May delayed Dhaka's trip, but in July, Mohsin Naqvi visited Dhaka.
Dhaka finally arrived in August. The arrival of Dhaka coincided with Lieutenant Muhammad Faizur Rahman, the Bangladesh officer of Pakistan, where he was with General Sahir Sahir Shamhad Mirza, Chairman of the Joint Committee of Pakistan.
Delwar Hossain, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University, said Pakistan’s “haunted efforts” to strengthen ties are strategic.
He told Al Jazeera that he mentioned the founder of Bangladesh and Hasina's father, who tried to normalize relations even under the Hasina government.
The relationship between Islamabad and Dhaka is normal to Bangladesh's military chief Ziaur Rahman, who led the country from the end of 1975 until he was also assassinated in 1981.
Hossain added: “Historically, regime change has created a binary of friendship and confrontation in Bangladesh’s ties with India and Pakistan.
Bangladesh's War of Independence Legacy
For decades, Islamabad and New Delhi have maintained contact with Dhaka through the prism of competition, a dynamic rooted in Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence.
When Pakistan and India gained independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan was created as a Muslim majority state with two geographically separate wings.
The Western Wing, which has about 34 million races, is regarded as dominant. Eastern Wing East Pakistan will become Bangladesh – with a larger population with more than 42 million Bangladeshi. India stands between two parts of Pakistan.
With the dissatisfaction of the East, India supported the liberation struggle of Bangladesh. Pakistan's military and allied militia carried out atrocities, killing hundreds of thousands of people and allegedly raped an estimated 200,000 women.
With India's military support, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his Awami League party led Bangladesh to independence. He became the founding president of the country.
Hasina, who led Bangladesh for 16 years before being removed from office last year, is widely regarded as close to India and has lived since last year.
Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Aizaz Chaudhry said a joint complaint against India's “regional hegemony” prompted Islamabad and Dhaka to rehabilitate ties.
He told Al Jazeera: “Bangladesh has experienced Indian hegemony, and in Pakistan, we saw this in the conflict in May. Now both countries know the need for balancing power in South Asia.”
In May, India and Pakistan were in a brief but fierce four-sky battle of 26 people (mainly tourists) killed by gunmen, in Indian-Kashmir-born Pahalgam attack. India accused Pakistan of attacks and accused Islamabad of refusal.
Shahab Enam Khan, executive director of the Bangladesh Indo-Pacific Affairs Center, described Dhaka's relationship with New Delhi as “lurky,” and although India is a major neighbor, added that foreign policy is driven by economic demands.
“Anti-India sentiment is often exaggerated,” he said. “Historically, Bangladesh has avoided viewing relations with Pakistan through purely security or military lenses, preferring economic and regional cooperation.”
China's role continues to grow
Regional dynamics are more complex due to the growing influence of China's influence in South Asia. Islamabad's close ally Beijing has a close relationship with Hasina, who successfully juggles friendship with India and China – despite the two Asian giants being rivals.
Hossain of Dhaka University said China managed to retain a large amount of operations in Bangladesh even after Hasina's removal. In March, Yunus visited Beijing, followed by Bangladesh Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman to take a weekly trip to China in August.
He added: “Bangladesh is considering buying 12 J-10C fighters to increase air power.” He refers to the Chinese-made aircraft that Pakistan also owns, as well as Islamabad used in the May conflict. China is also Pakistan's closest strategic partner and a source of economic loans and investments and military equipment.
“These developments have brought Dhaka and Islamabad closer and turned the connection into a strong partnership,” Hosen said.
Pakistani and Bangladesh officials held several meetings during their August visit to Dhaka [Handout/Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
Trade, politics as a nation seeks partnership
DAR's two-day visit to Bangladesh was filled with meetings, including talks with Yunus and Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain.
He also met leaders from various political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the student-led National Civil Party (NCP), leading protests.
Former Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit said the meetings were particularly important as Bangladesh prepares for elections in early 2026. “No matter what happens between India and Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be moving forward,” he told Al Jazeera. “We have problems with the past, but they can be handled skillfully and should not be obstacles.”
Both can also benefit from closer economic relations.
Bangladesh has grown at 6% since 2021, making it one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia. Pakistan lags behind, with growth rate of 2.5% last year. Currently, bilateral trade is moderate, leaning towards Pakistan, with Pakistan's total exports to Bangladesh in 2024 amounting to US$661 million, while imports are US$57 million.
But if both countries try to revitalize trade relations, Hosing said that each of them can benefit from each other – both as a source of raw materials and a potential market.
The scholar said Bangladesh may benefit from importing cotton and textiles, rice, cement, fruit and processed food from Pakistan. Pakistan, on the other hand, can import jute and jute products, hydrogen peroxide, chemicals and tobacco products from Bangladesh.
He pointed out: “The total population of Bangladesh and Pakistan is 430 million.”
Dissatisfaction in history
The deepest fault line in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations is the legacy of the 1971 war.
Dhaka continues to demand an apology for the form of atrocities.
Then there is a controversy over the status of more than 200,000 Urdu-speaking Muslims in Bangladesh. After the zoning in 1947, the community moved primarily to East Pakistan from Bihar, today in India. East Pakistan – Bangladesh today – is closer to Bihar than West Pakistan. But Bangladesh was built on Bangladesh nationalism in 1971 and he only gave Urdu-speaking Muslims limited rights and wanted Pakistan to take it away, something Islamabad would not want to do.
Bangladesh also sought the division of Pakistan’s assets before 1971 and, after the transfer of aid promised by West Pakistan to East Pakistan in 1970, an estimated 300,000 people died in a devastating whirlwind. Many historians cite the slow and largely inadequate response of the West Pakistan government, which was the main catalyst for the liberation war that led to the formation of Bangladesh.
Nevertheless, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Chaudhry believes that public sentiment in both countries supports reconciliation.
“The Pakistani people are also saddened by the events in 1971 as the people of Bangladesh. I think this pain is common and people in both countries want to move forward now.”
However, Hawthorne of Dhaka University said that despite the strong support of strengthening Bangladesh-Pakistan relations, issues related to the 1971 war remained a barrier to improving links.
“It is important to remember that Hasina’s expellers from power did not fundamentally change the way the Bangladesh people think about the war of liberation, nor did Pakistan’s expectations of healing the past,” Hosin said.
He added that despite this, Dhaka didn’t want to get into trouble in the past either.
“Diplomatic is a dynamic process. Both countries can move forward to cooperation in the economic, diplomatic and cultural sectors, while they will continue to maintain the recovery process,” he said.