The new interim government of Bangladesh is now focusing on strengthening relations with Pakistan. The minister who recently joined the interim government said that Bangladesh wants the issue of the 1971 war with Pakistan to be resolved. The special thing is that Bangladesh was born only after the 1971 war. The statement from the interim minister has come at a time when many senior members of the government led by Mohammad Yunus have met Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Syed Ahmed Maruf.
During talks with Pakistani officials in Dhaka, interim minister Nahid Islam talked about strong relations between the two countries and resolving the 1971 issue. According to a Hindustan Times report, an official statement issued from Nahid’s office said that Maruf said Pakistan wanted to resolve the 1971 issue. Maruf said, “The previous government did not give us any opportunity to discuss and kept the 1971 issue alive.”
He also said that this issue could have been resolved much earlier. He said that Pakistan now wants to strengthen relations with Bangladesh. In response to this, Nahid said that 1971 is an important issue in the political history of Bangladesh. He said, ‘According to the Awami League, 1971 is the last chapter of history, but we feel that this is like a continuation of history.’
The special thing is that Nahid referred to the events of 1947 and said, “We want to solve the 1971 issue with Pakistan. A democratic South Asia needs strong relations with each other.” She said that Bangladesh is in favor of maintaining relations with any country while maintaining its independence, national interest and integrity. She said, “We want to solve the issues of 1971 for national interests and developing relations.”
History
The special thing is that Bangladesh has been demanding an apology from Pakistan for the action taken against it for a long time. No solution to this issue has been found so far in the 53 years of relations. It is said that the relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh were quite weak during the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
