DHAKA: Bangladesh will receive a delivery of 25,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan next month, its food ministry said, confirming the resumption of direct bilateral trade between the two governments after more than five decades.
Following decades of acrimonious ties, Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have started to grow after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last August.
Bangladesh’s interim government has had more bilateral exchanges with Pakistan since, with the chief adviser, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, having met twice with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Earlier this month, Dhaka finalised a deal to import rice from Pakistan, the food ministry said.
“The first consignment of 25,000 tonnes will arrive in Bangladesh on March 3,” Zia Uddin Ahmed, an additional secretary at the ministry, told Arab News.
“Since 1971, this is the first time Bangladesh initiated rice import at (the government-to-government) level from Pakistan.”
Their growing trade ties followed the two South Asian nations’ direct maritime contact in November, when a Pakistani cargo ship docked in Bangladesh for the first time since 1971 with imports and exports organized by private businesses.
Amena Mohsin, an international relations expert and lecturer at the North South University, said resuming trade with Pakistan is an important move for Bangladesh.
“We want that bilateral relationship with Pakistan to move forward. We always diversify our relationships (but) most importantly, at the moment, we are experiencing a low point row with India
In this context, this latest decision to import rice from Pakistan is very significant,” she told Arab News.
