Pakistan seeks to forge strong relationship with Bangladesh: President

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan wants to forge strong bilateral ties with Bangladesh in all areas including commerce, trade, sports, culture, and people-to-people relations.

He said this while speaking at a reception hosted in honour of Bangladesh and Pakistan Men’s cricket teams, here at the Governor’s House on Sunday.

Pakistan Cricket Board ( PCB) hosted the reception, which was attended by the Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan, Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan Muhammad Iqbal Hussain, BCB cricket Operations Head Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, Advisor to Chairman PCB Amir Mir, team officials, and members of Pakistan and Bangladesh cricket teams.

The President also expressed the desire to visit Bangladesh and recalled his student days at the Pitaro Cadet College and the lasting friendships he made during those days. He added that he was in close contact with Bangladeshi college friends even today.

“Pakistan government is trying to work together to build a stronger relationship with Bangladesh,” he said, adding: “We need to keep investing in people and come up with solutions to take our relations to new heights.”

He further said Pakistan businessmen wish to collaborate with Bangladeshi businesses, adding that the Pakistani government is also interested in working with the Bangladeshi government in the long run. “We have a bright future as two nations”, he remarked.

President Zardari also recognized the progress made by Bangladesh over the past 50 years, adding Bangladesh is a success story in the world both financially as well as in human resource capital and everybody knows. “Allah has given you strength financially and in the form of manpower,” he said, adding: “Bangladesh was destined to progress and prosper vis a vis exports business and Pakistan will contribute as much as it can.”

Reminiscing on the shared history and pangs of separation as brothers when the two brothers parted ways in 1971, President Zardari said the younger generation was not aware of the pain we had gone through as the older generation, adding that we had broken each other’s hearts in the past and there was a need to mend the hearts today, emphasizing the need for reconciliation and mutual understanding a message that resonated deeply in his address.

Recognizing transformative power of cricket as a sport which helps in uniting people throughout the world, he said “I am happy to host you all in Pakistan, in Lahore. And I hope that there will be many such trips”.

President Zardari reassured the Bangladesh envoy to Pakistan of his full support in furthering the bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries. He hailed the Bangladesh tigers for their immense talent and wished them a great future. He also lavished on the young Pakistan team and expressed the hope it will do well on the international front. “The world is young, you are young and it’s your time. We’ve seen our time; this is your time.

All of you are going to see the future and I bless you and I hope that you’ll have an eventful good future,” Zardari said.

President Asif Ali Zardari appreciated the performance of both teams in the ongoing T20 series.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025