Bangladesh

India, Pakistan High Commissioners hold meeting at the same time with Foreign Ministry India-Pakistan
Collected Indian High Commissioner Vikram Kumar Doraiswami and Pakistani counterpart Imran Ahmed Siddiqui

India, Pakistan High Commissioners hold meeting at the same time with Foreign Ministry

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 24 Jun 2021, 10:26 pm

Dhaka, June 24: On the same day, the High Commissioners of India and Pakistan met at the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka at about the same time. There meeting took place in adjacent rooms. Foreign Ministry officials said the incident was significant even though it was a coincidence.

According to them, the entry and exit of these two envoys together in the vicinity of the ministry is quite rare. Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Vikram Kumar Doraiswamy was scheduled to make a courtesy call on State Minister for External Affairs Shahriar Alam. He arrived on time.

But 15 minutes prior, Pakistan's High Commissioner in Dhaka Imran Ahmed Siddiqui sat down for a meeting with Foreign Secretary Masood bin Momen. Before the end of the Pakistani meeting, the Indian Ambassador finished the meeting with the State Minister. It was not possible to know the details of what was discussed in the meeting between the state minister and the Indian high commissioner.

Sources in Segunbagicha have hinted that India has been seeking Bangladesh's support in several elections in the global forum for a long time. This may have been discussed there. However, the meeting did not discuss the issue of vaccination in Bangladesh, an official said, adding that the meeting was very informal. So no press release was issued.

Meanwhile, when asked what the Pakistani high commissioner had to say to the foreign secretary during the one-and-a-half-hour meeting, sources said it was a routine meeting where several issues were discussed. The plot allotted for the Pakistan High Commission in Baridhara had complications. It was addressed on Tuesday. The Pakistani ambassador expressed gratitude for this.

Also, Pakistan wants to normalize relations with Bangladesh. Siddiqui has offered Bangladesh to use its port while sending goods to the Middle East.. He also said that he had a meeting with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and would like to take a delegation to visit the Karachi port.

The Pakistani ambassador sought Dhaka's help in this regard, saying there was a demand for several products, including Bangladeshi medicines. He also emphasized on increasing the Bangladesh-Pakistan trade from the current USD 700 million. However, the Pakistani High Commissioner remained silent about Pakistan's formal apology to Bangladesh for the crimes of 1971.