Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to Bangladesh at the head of a delegation including the Commerce Minister comes at a particularly important time for both countries. Both countries have got nearly the same tariff from the USA, 19 percent for Pakistan and 20 percent for Bangladesh, while their main competitors in the apparel industry, India and China, have been given tariffs of 25 percent and 30 percent respectively, though the former could go to 50 percent and 125 percent respectively. While Pakistan and Bangladesh are both rushing in to replace India and China, there may be a need to coordinate action. Also, both are also exploring the region after Pakistan’s showing against India in the recent Pahalgam clash. Itwas particularly liberating for Bangladesh to receive Mr Dar especially after Bangladesh has developed ots own problems with India. One of the main problems in the relationship has been the tilt of India towards the Awami League, which was ousted last year after students were killed in protests against it.
It was noticeable that while Mr Dar met several party delegations, there was no Awami League delegation. The passage of over 50 years has not apparently changed the latter’s animus against Pakistan, and thus its tilt towards India, which has led it down the rabbit hole of making Bangladesh a kind of Indian colony. The meetings with the Bangladesh National Party, the Jamaat Islami and National Citizens Party were not really with pro-Pakistan parties, as with parties seeking a genuinely independent Bangladesh, one which did not have to kowtow to India all the time. One of the benefits Pakistan can offer Bangladesh is enhanced access to Central Asia for trade through Gwadar and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
It is a critical juncture for Bangladesh, with the country due to hold elections by February next year. Pakistan must not view Bangladesh as a country which was once part of it, or as part of a regional strategy involving India, but as an independent country with which it wishes to have close relations, That potential should also be brought along in the D8, the bloc of the eight largest Muslim countries, as well as in SAARC, which Bangladesh helped found, but which has become a victim of Indian intransigence. The Dar visit should not be seen as merely bilateral. Because Pakistan is playing a role in diplomacy to supplement China, and because Bangladesh is veering in that direction, this visit could have a ripple effect.
