CAIRO: Pakistan and Bangladesh have agreed to further expand and strengthen their bilateral cooperation across various sectors of mutual interest.

This understanding was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, on the sidelines of the 11th D-8 Summit in Cairo.The two leaders emphasized the importance of aligning efforts to achieve shared development goals.

They agreed on the significance of fostering people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges, including enhanced interactions between artists, sportspeople, academics, and students. The meeting underscored the growing cooperation, as reflected in the recent visit of the Bangladesh Cricket Team to Pakistan and the performance of a Pakistani artist in Dhaka. During the meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the historical, cultural, and religious ties between the two countries. He reiterated Pakistan's commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, particularly in areas such as trade, people-to-people exchanges, and cultural cooperation.

PM Shehbaz stressed the need to explore new avenues for economic collaboration, particularly in sectors like chemicals, cement clinkers, surgical goods, leather products, and information technology. He also expressed gratitude towards Bangladesh for recent measures aimed at facilitating trade and travel between the two countries. These steps include the removal of the 100% physical inspection of consignments from Pakistan and the dismantling of the special security desk at Dhaka airport that previously scrutinized Pakistani passengers. Additionally, Pakistan thanked Bangladesh for simplifying the visa process for Pakistani nationals.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction over the recent positive developments in bilateral relations and acknowledged the increasing frequency of high-level contacts. They also discussed strengthening cooperation within multilateral forums, particularly the D-8, to further enhance ties. The meeting reflected the strong goodwill and fraternal relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh, with both sides reaffirming their shared commitment to building a prosperous future together.