Retired former High Commissioners and Secretaries of Pakistan have commented that Pakistan's relationship with Bangladesh should be at a tolerant level. For this reason, they have prepared a roadmap for the development of relations with Bangladesh. He also handed over the strategy paper to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
After the recent political change in Bangladesh, the former Diplomats and Secretaries of Pakistan prepared this strategy paper.
On Monday (September 2), Pakistan's media The Express Tribune published a news about this.
According to the news, former Diplomats and Secretaries assigned to Bangladesh involved in the formulation of the strategy on Sunday (September 1) told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.
They said that they recently attended a meeting at the invitation of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. According to the recommendations of that meeting, they all prepared a strategy paper to improve relations with Bangladesh.
They said that after the change in political status of Bangladesh on August 5, an opportunity has been created to improve relations with Pakistan. During Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule, Pakistan's relations reached rock bottom. Pakistan tried several times to improve relations with Dhaka, but because of Hasina, those efforts did not see success.
The daughter of Bangladeshi architect Sheikh Mujibur Rahman continues to maintain very close ties with India. She often discussed Pakistan with Delhi. Bangladesh's relations with India have been seriously affected by her departure. This is now the opportunity to improve Pakistan's relations with Bangladesh.
Former High Commissioners and Secretaries have advised Shehbaz Sharif that Pakistan can now certainly move forward with improving relations with Bangladesh, but with great caution and tact.
What the strategy might look like:
As for what the strategy might look like, they said, it would have to be very general. Can't take sides. It is said that the reason is that the common people of Bangladesh are very independent minded.
Regarding the reason for the fall of Sheikh Hasina, Pakistani leaders said that she was India's puppet. Because of that India had to pay a heavy price.
An official of Bangladeshi origin said that the people of Bangladesh are very independent minded. They do not like any country at all. That is why it will not be right to look at the development of relations with Bangladesh through the eyes of India. Pakistan should not have the kind of relationship that India is having with Bangladesh.
They also said that there are retired officers in Pakistan who are well versed in Bengali language. If 78-year-old Munir Akram can be Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations, why can't we appoint someone like that in Dhaka!
In this context, a retired bureaucrat said, there must be a change. We can consider Dhaka as a center. That means there can be a qualified Commissioner post.
Incidentally, after Sheikh Hasina's departure, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been able to have high-level contacts with Dhaka. He spoke to Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus on Friday (August 30). This was the highest level contact with Bangladesh after many years. Besides, the foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and Pakistan met on the sidelines of the OIC conference.
