Forum Pakistan

These relations began with mutual recognition on 22 February 1974. In the initial stage, relations were tense. The two countries had to overcome the traumatic events of the 1971 war and to start shaping their relations on a new basis of common interests. This task was made difficult by the financial and economic issues involved in the repatriation of Bengalis living in Pakistan and *Biharis living in Bangladesh. The repatriation of Bengalis did not take long, whereas the deportation of several hundred thousand Biharis stretched out over several years. The division of assets remains a lingering issue between the two countries.

The development of Bangladesh-Pakistan relations accelerated as a result of changes in the Bangladeshi leadership after the 15 August 1975 coup, in which Shaikh Mujibur *Rahman was killed. The policy of consolidating links with the Muslim world initiated in the mid 1970s by Bangladesh was in line with the desire of Pakistan's leaders, who opted to use Islamic ideology as the political basis for the relations between the two countries. These relations were greatly strengthened in the 1980s. An official visit of S. Yaqub Khan, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, to Bangladesh in August 1983 initiated regular political contact between the leaders of the two countries. There followed a visit of President H.M. Ershad of Bangladesh to Pakistan in June 1986, a meeting between Ershad and the President of Pakistan in Karachi in July 1987, and Benazir *Bhutto's visit to Bangladesh in the autumn of 1989. One of the most important factors which stimulated relations, especially in the political sphere, is the participation in the * South-Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). In 2000 Bangladesh sent emissaries to both Pakistan and India seeking to mediate the *Kashmir dispute. Shortly after this the Indian press published excerpts of the Hamood ur Rahman Committee Report which described the atrocities of the Pakistan army against the Bengali population in 1971. When Inamur Raja, Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh, asserted during a seminar that the Pakistan Army was only responding to the atrocities committed by * Awami League 'miscreants' relations took a plunge. Although Pakistan had already announced his withdrawal, the Bangladesh government expelled the Deputy High Commissioner.

The victory of the Bangladesh National Party led by Khaleda Zia In October 2001, is expected to improve relations.
On 29 July 2002 President General Pervez *Musharraf, during his visit to Dhaka, publicly expressed his regrets over the excesses committed by the Pakistan Army during the 1970 conflict. The next day President Musharraf and Prime Minister Zia signed cultural and technology exchange agreements. The issues of repatriating stranded refugees and division of assets stay unresolved. Prime Minister Zia visited Pakistan for the SAARC summit of 4 January 2004.