JEDDAH: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reached Saudi Arabia on Monday after concluding an official two-day visit to Bangladesh.
According to the Foreign Office, Dar will represent Pakistan at the 21st session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah. The gathering will bring together foreign ministers and senior representatives of member states to deliberate on the deteriorating situation in Palestine. The agenda includes examining Israel’s ongoing military operations, its proposed plan for complete control of Gaza, and the persistent violations of Palestinian human rights.
Before arriving in Saudi Arabia, Dar visited Dhaka from August 23 to 24 on the invitation of the Bangladeshi government. This trip marked the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister to Bangladesh in nearly 13 years. During his stay, he held discussions with Bangladesh’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Touhid Hossain, and met Chief Adviser Mohammad Younus alongside Trade Adviser Sheikh Bashiruddin and senior trade officials.
Dar’s engagements also included talks with delegations from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizens Party. Several agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were finalized during the visit. These included abolition of visas for holders of diplomatic and official passports, creation of a joint working group on trade, and cooperation agreements between research institutes and foreign service academies of both countries. Furthermore, an MoU was signed between the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) and Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), along with a pact on cultural exchanges.
