Reset with Dhaka

Bangladesh and Pakistan seek reconciliation, with Dr Yunus and PM Sharif pushing for stronger ties post-1971.

Dhaka and Islamabad have walked a tough rope since 1971. Their estranged relations have a bitter history of trials and tribulations, and the dismemberment trauma haunts them to this day. It is, thus, a good omen that Bangladesh and Pakistan have reciprocated goodwill gestures for each other, and the desire on the part of Bangladesh's interim leader Dr Muhammad Yunus "to move on from 1971" is highly appreciated. Meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on the sidelines of D-8 summit in Cairo, Dr Yunus has rightly underscored the need for getting along by burying the hatchet, buoying trade and coordination between the two countries and working together to revive the moribund eight-nation SAARC.

The new thinking in Dhaka is an outcome of political somersault that the South Asian country has witnessed, of late, in the wake of the dismissal of the Awami League government that had nursed a vendetta for Pakistan for long. While the ousted dispensation was considered too close to New Delhi, it had an obvious bone of contention with Islamabad. Dr Yunus, nonetheless, by taking an initiative to look forward has exhibited statesmanship, and the same is in need of being given an institutional framework by coordinating synergies for a collective better tomorrow.

While Pakistan has time and again regretted the catastrophic sequence of events leading to the Dhaka debacle, things had remained in limbo for reasons of geopolitical exigency. As PM Sharif has reciprocated the gesture in all cordiality, the Cairo understanding should act as a silver-lining in overcoming the discord, and resetting the path for congeniality.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have many common denominators - religion, culture and a shared history. With Dhaka positioning itself as an emerging economic power of Southeast Asia, there is a lot that Pakistan can share as they intermingle in commerce and industry. Likewise, scholarly interactions can go a long way in building bridges to undo the bad blood of truncation. The plausible bilateral reorientation can also act as a referral in normalising ties between India and Pakistan.