Pakistan, Bangladesh revive dormant ties; Dhaka-Karachi air link on cards

A Dhaka-Karachi air route is set to open within months as Pakistan and Bangladesh move to revive long-dormant ties — a development being closely watched in New Delhi amid shifting regional alignments.

The announcement came after Pakistan’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, called on Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in Dhaka on Saturday.

The talks, described by observers as a “reset in progress”, covered plans to expand trade, investment and defence cooperation between the two countries. General Mirza said a shipping corridor between Karachi and Chittagong had already become operational and that Pakistan now aimed to complement it with direct air services between Karachi and Dhaka — the first such flights in over a decade.

Relations between Dhaka and Islamabad have remained tense since the 1971 Liberation War, which led to Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan. Over the years, both countries maintained limited diplomatic contact, with defence cooperation and air links frozen for much of the last decade.

The latest outreach, which includes high-level military dialogue and revived trade routes, signals a new phase of pragmatic engagement between the two sides. The development also comes at a delicate time in India-Bangladesh relations, which have soured since the ouster of ex-PM Sheikh Hasina.

Anti-India and anti-Hindu sentiments have intensified in parts of Bangladesh, and Yunus has accused New Delhi of having “strained bilateral ties” by supporting Hasina, whom he blamed for the killing of protesters during last year’s unrest in Dhaka.