Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Friday said only time will tell whether Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent Bangladesh visit would ease tensions in bilateral relations.
Speaking to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the adviser added, “We see no political significance in the handshake between Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Speaker, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, in Dhaka.”
Jaishankar arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday to pay respects to the late former prime minister and BNP Chairperson, Begum Khaleda Zia.
Commenting on his visit as “positive,” the Touhid said, “Khaleda Zia was not only a respected figure in Bangladesh but across South Asia. The presence of representatives from India, Pakistan, and other countries proves that.
Regarding the handshake between Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, and Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar at the Parliament building, the adviser said it was merely a courtesy gesture.
Notably, on the day of Khaleda Zia’s funeral prayers, Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker; the foreign ministers of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka; and the education minister of Maldives visited Dhaka to pay their respects.
While they were in a room at the Parliament building, Jaishankar shook hands with Sadiq. Additionally, Jaishankar delivered a condolence message from the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Khaleda Zia’s death to BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman.
