Pakistan and Bangladesh agreed to expand and deepen bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest at a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Advisor to Bangladesh Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the D-8 summit in Cairo on Thursday.
They also emphasized the need to align efforts to achieve mutually beneficial development goals.
Both leaders recognized the importance of people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges, including enhanced exchanges of artists, athletes, academics and students. They noted with satisfaction the recent visit of the Bangladesh cricket team to Pakistan and a concert by a Pakistani artist in Dhaka.
The two sides agreed to establish closer cooperation in various multilateral fora, including the D-8.
The meeting took place in a cordial environment that truly reflected the existing goodwill and brotherly ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister emphasized the historical, religious and cultural ties between the two countries. He expressed Pakistan’s keen desire to strengthen bilateral cooperation, especially in trade, people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasized the need to explore new avenues of economic cooperation and boost trade in sectors such as chemicals, cement clinker, surgical goods, leather goods and the IT sector.
He expressed his gratitude to Bangladesh for the recent steps taken to facilitate trade and travel between Pakistan and Bangladesh. This includes dropping the condition of 100% physical screening of shipments from Pakistan and abolishing the special security desk at Dhaka airport that was previously set up to screen Pakistani passengers.
Shehbaz Sharif also thanked Bangladesh for removing the additional screening requirement for Pakistani visa applicants.
Both leaders expressed satisfaction with recent positive developments in bilateral relations and noted with satisfaction the increasing frequency of high-level contacts.
