Ayaz Sadiq, Jaishankar exchange handshake at Khaleda Zia’s funeral

KARACHI: Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar shook hands in Dhaka on Wednesday, marking the first high-level contact between Pakistani and Indian officials since the military conflict in May of this year.

Relations between Islamabad and New Delhi reached their lowest point this year following an attack in Pahalagam, in Illegally Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

A press release from the NA Secretariat stated that during Sadiq’s visit to Dhaka for former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia’s funeral, Jaishankar approached him for a handshake.

“Indian External Minister Dr S Jaishankar approached the Speaker [of the] National Assembly and shaked hands,” the press release read.

“During this interaction, Dr S Jaishankar introduced himself to the speaker and told the speaker that he had recognised him [sic].”

The press release added that since the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan has “consistently emphasised dialogue, restraint and cooperative measures, including proposals for peace talks and joint investigations into the alleged false flag Pahalgam incident, in order to prevent unprovoked aggression and escalation“.

AFP adds: Bangladesh bids farewell on Wednesday to former prime minister Khaleda Zia with a state funeral expected to draw vast crowds, mourning a towering leader whose career defined politics for decades.

Zia, the first woman to serve as prime minister in the South Asian nation of 170 million people, died on Tuesday aged 80.

“Khaleda Zia has been an inspiration,” homemaker Sharmina Siraj told AFP, adding that “it is difficult to imagine women in leadership positions anytime soon”.

Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely seen as a frontrunner, and her son Tarique Rahman, 60, who returned only last week after 17 years in exile, is seen as a potential prime minister if they win a majority.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026