Pakistan’s President Dr Arif Alvi has said his country wants to improve its relations with Bangladesh and called for utilising all avenues for improving the bilateral ties.
Talking to Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Siddiqui, who had called on Alvi in Islamabad on Tuesday, the Pakistani president said: “Pakistan highly values its ties with Bangladesh and wants to further expand cooperation by using the existing bilateral mechanisms.”
Alvi wished Bangladesh well on the golden jubilee of its independence, reports the Dawn.
Siddiqui briefed the president on various initiatives taken by Pakistan for improving the relationship with Bangladesh after years of frosty ties.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have multiple bilateral mechanisms, including foreign secretary-level consultations and Joint Economic Commission, but most have been suspended for years. It is being expected that foreign secretaries’ dialogue, which has not taken place for about 12 years, may resume in the near future.
Pakistan’s President Alvi called for using all bilateral mechanisms for improving ties.
The president asked high commissioner Siddiqui to work on improving bilateral ties between the two countries with greater focus.
He underscored the need for enhancing commercial relations, business-to-business cooperation and people-to-people contacts for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Dr Alvi emphasised the need for enhancing bilateral cultural and political exchanges as well as cooperation in the field of sports.
