Bangladesh and Pakistan on Friday discussed the revival of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the revitalization of bilateral relations, reports said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called Bangladesh interim government head Muhammad Yunus on telephone and discussed with him the issues of mutual interests after congratulating him on becoming the head of the new dispensation in the country.
Ties between the two countries were frosty during the tenure of former premier Sheikh Hasina, who stepped down and fled to India on August 5 following the nationwide protests against her rule.
During the telephone call, the reports said, Sharif stressed the need to reinvigorate the SAARC process.
The reports quoting a readout of the conversation from the Bangladeshi side mentioned that Yunus was committed to revitalising SAARC as a top regional forum to boost ties among the South Asian nations.
Yunus also underlined the necessity of holding regular SAARC summits and stressed the need to hold even a brief meeting among the heads of state and governments of the SAARC states.
Earlier on Tuesday, Yunus had called for reviving the SAARC to boost economic cooperation in the neighbourhood during a meeting with Pakistan high commissioner Syed Ahmed Maroof.
SAARC has been largely moribund since India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan pulled out of a summit that was to be hosted by Pakistan in November 2016. Since then, India has stepped up cooperation through other regional mechanisms such as Bimstec.
Also, Yunus called for strengthening economic ties and people-to-people connections between Bangladesh and Pakistan.
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Sharif emphasised the need to revitalise bilateral ties and said there is “immense potential [for] expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation”. He also underscored the need to resume mechanisms like the foreign secretary-level consultations and the joint economic commission between Dhaka and Islamabad.
The Pakistan prime minister also hoped the goodwill between Bangladesh and Pakistan would be translated into substantial cooperation.
He said Pakistan was willingness to provide support to people flood affected people in southern and southeastern Bangladesh.
