Foreign relations analysts in Dhaka have said they would await the follow-up developments of the official-level foreign office consultation (FOC) between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the political level as the issues of apology for the 1971 genocide and asset sharing came up in the talks.
“Since the Pakistani foreign secretary represents her government at the FOC has some resonance, also because it was held after 15 long years,” former diplomat and Foreign Relations Expert Ambassador Humayun Kabir told BSS here on Thursday evening.
He said the Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was set to visit Dhaka later this month when the issues raised in the FOC could yield some results.
Humayun, who runs the private Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) think tank, said the issue of Pakistan’s official apology came up in the discussion and if an apology could absolve an old scar, there should be no reason Islamabad should not do so for improved ties with Dhaka.
“It’s a good time for them to do it,” he said.
Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University’s international relations department said for obscure reasons Pakistan did not seek an apology officially until now, while there were many examples when many countries like France and Japan sought an apology for their atrocities in other countries.
He said the “asset sharing” was also a big issue, though in terms of monetary calculation, it is not a big amount Dhaka demanded and “as soon as these issues are resolved, the ties could develop in a faster pace”.
“And it is also important to note that the bilateral ties should not be based on any of the two concerned countries' relations with a third country,” Imtiaz said.
He said: “The bilateral relations should only serve the interest of the people and economy of the two countries, and in our case, it is Bangladesh’s interest.”
But, he said, mutually beneficial economic relations could carry forward the diplomatic and political ties while incidentally Bangladesh currently was economically in a better position compared to Pakistan.
He said it depends largely on Pakistan how far they would open up their market for Bangladeshi products, as only a good political gesture could not advance the bilateral relations too far.
Former ambassador Mahfuzur Rahman said apparently Pakistan was interested in holding the FOC, which was an engagement at an official level after 15 years, when issues that evolved 54 years ago were raised.
He said the follow-up of the talks at the FOC level could get a direction at the political level talks when Dar would visit Dhaka later this month.
“We expect to see the follow-up of talks which we had today at the foreign secretary level meeting and a subsequent joint press conference,” said Mahfuzur, who once served as the deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh in Islamabad.
