DiplomaticCorrespondent

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch on Thursday met Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain and discussed issues of mutual interest.The meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.When approached to know about the meeting outcome, she declined to make any comment.Earlier, Bangladesh and Pakistan held Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) at State guesthouse Padma as the two South Asian countries are keen to strengthen their ties.

Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin and Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch led their respective delegation at the FOC.The FOC marks the first such meeting since 2010.Director General of South Asia Wing at Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Ishrat Jahan and High Commissioners of Bangladesh and Pakistan also attended the meeting.

Pakistan wanted to hold the consultations with Bangladesh as part of Islamabad’s efforts to strengthen the ties with Dhaka.Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is also scheduled to pay an official visit to Bangladesh later this month.Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam on Tuesday said there will be discussions on all issues of mutual interest as the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan is coming.Ishaq Dar’s upcoming trip to Dhaka will mark the first visit by a Pakistani Foreign Minister since 2012.April 17

Both sides, in their recent interactions, expressed satisfaction over recent visits of several trade delegations from Pakistan to Bangladesh and emphasised the importance of visits by the product specific trade delegations from Bangladesh to Pakistan.

Cooperation in the sectors of tourism, people-to-people contacts, cultural exchanges, the issue of forcibly displaced Rohingyas and cooperation in the international forum were also discussed.

Both sides recalled the substantive discussion between Bangladesh's chief adviser and the prime minister of Pakistan during their meetings in Cairo on the sidelines of D-8 Summit in December 2024 and in New York in September 2024 on the sidelines of the 79th UNGA.

They also recalled the meeting between the foreign adviser and deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Pakistan on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Apia, Samoa in October 2024.