Pakistan seeks deeper Bangladesh, Iran ties at UNGA talks
Pakistan has said it wants to deepen ties with Bangladesh and Iran after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held separate meetings with his Bangladesh counterpart Tarique Rahman and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
In posts on X on Thursday and Friday, Sharif described the exchanges as cordial and said the talks focused on expanding bilateral cooperation and discussing the regional situation, including the need for restraint and diplomacy.
Sharif said he had a "warm and most cordial" exchange with Rahman. "In our most useful discussion, Prime Minister Rehman and I agreed to further deepen Pakistan-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity, education, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, while maintaining close coordination between our two countries on regional and global issues as well as at multilateral fora," the prime minister said. Sharif also congratulated Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rehman on assuming the presidency of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. The meeting came as Dhaka seeks to strengthen ties with countries like Pakistan and China, while relations with neighbouring India remain strained.
In his meeting with Pezeshkian, Sharif said he "reaffirmed the deep and longstanding bonds between Pakistan and Iran" and their "shared desire to further strengthen bilateral cooperation" across all areas of mutual interest. "We also had an important exchange on the evolving regional situation," the prime minister said in a social media post on Thursday. "I reiterated Pakistan's deep concern over the prolonged conflict and stressed the urgent need for restraint, de-escalation and sustained diplomacy."
Sharif said, "We remain committed to building on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and will continue to play a sincere and constructive role in the pursuit of lasting peace and stability in the region." He added that he deeply values Pezeshkian's commitment to "Pakistan-Iran friendship" and the "close coordination for regional peace at this critical juncture". The meeting between the two leaders came days after Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders and officials, seeking to revive Islamabad's diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the US amid a continuing standoff. Pakistan has been playing a key mediator between Tehran and Washington to revive stalled negotiations. The two parties had signed an interim peace agreement in June, which Islamabad also signed as a "guarantor", but the process has been disrupted after military escalation by both sides.
The meetings with Rahman and Pezeshkian centred on Pakistan's push to expand cooperation with Bangladesh and Iran, while also keeping the focus on regional coordination, de-escalation and diplomacy.
