Hina Rabbani Khar, the Pakistani minister of state for forreign affairs, is coming to Dhaka to join the 20th Conference of Ministers of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation scheduled for Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
This will be the first visit by a Pakistani minister to Bangladesh in a decade as bilateral relations soured due to the war crimes trial that saw Bangladeshi collaborators of Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War punished for crimes against humanity.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate virtually the conference of the ministers of D-8, also known as the Developing-8, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said at a press conference on Sunday.
The other members of the bloc are Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Turkey.
Momen did not reveal the date of Hina’s arrival. He said foreign ministers or their representatives from the other members will also join the conference. They will include Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of Iran.
Momen said Azerbaijan has applied for the membership of the bloc and the ministers will decide on its application.
Officials said Bangladesh invited Pakistan Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the conference. The Pakistani government decided to send Hina in his stead.
Hina visited Dhaka in 2012 as the foreign minister to invite Hasina to the D-8 summit in Islamabad.
Momen said he was unaware of any plans to hold a bilateral meeting with Hina.
“We don’t have much time on the sidelines of the D-8 conference. We will accommodate if we get a request [for a bilateral meeting],” said Amanul Haque, the chief of protocol.
Momen said the conference will focus on trade, agriculture, small and medium industries, transport and communication, energy and mineral resources, with the spotlight on food and energy security.
He said discussions to sign a preferential trade agreement among the D-8 nations were at the final stage. The agreement is expected to be signed this year.
Momen said the conference will focus on trade, agriculture, small and medium industries, transport and communication, energy and mineral resources, with the spotlight on food and energy security.
He said discussions to sign a preferential trade agreement among the D-8 nations were at the final stage. The agreement is expected to be signed