Pakistan |
Bangladesh |
The bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh are influenced by the fact that Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971, when it achieved independence after the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. As part of Shimla Agreement, India sought to make sure that Pakistan would take steps to recognize Bangladesh. Pakistan sought China's help in blocking Bangladesh's entry into United Nations until 1974. Behind the scene India rallied behind Bangladesh to help gain international recognition. By end of March 1973, 98 countries had recognized Bangladesh.[1] Pakistan eventually recognised Bangladesh in 1974
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From 1947 to 1971, Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan, known as East Bengal till 1955 and thereafter as East Pakistan. Relations between the two wings grew strained over the lack of official recognition for the Bengali language, democracy, regional autonomy, disparity between the two wings, ethnic discrimination and the central government's weak and inefficient relief efforts after the 1970 Bhola cyclone, which had affected millions in East Bengal. These grievances led to several political agitations in East Bengal and ultimately a fight for full independence. In March 1971, the Pakistani Army began "Operation Searchlight," which targeted intellectuals, political activists, Hindus and other minorities.[2] The figure of people killed by Pakistani forces remains disputed, with estimates ranging from 300,000 to 3 million [3][4] about 8-10 million people became refugees in India.[5] Many Bengali policemen and soldiers mutinied and nationalists formed a guerrilla force, the Mukti Bahini with Indian and Soviet Union support. When a declared war broke out between India and Pakistan in December 1971, the joint forces of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini defeated Pakistani forces in East Bengal and the independent state of Bangladesh was created.[6]
See also OIC role in Pakistan-Bangladesh relationship
In the aftermath of Bangladesh's independence, Pakistan came under the rule of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had been the main political opponent of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh. Pakistan and its allies, including the People's Republic of China, Saudi Arabia and some other Middle Eastern nations, refused to recognize Bangladesh. In 1972, Pakistan left the Commonwealth of Nations after it extended membership to Bangladesh. For its part, Bangladesh demanded an apology from Pakistan for war crimes committed by the Pakistani military and reparations. Bangladesh's development of close ties with India, which had played a major role in securing its independence, also aggravated Pakistan. On the issue of Bangladesh’s application for membership to the UN, China, on Pakistan’s request, exercised its veto power for the first time to stall the move, which helped Pakistan to secure in a bargain the release of its POWs and the return of troops to their prewar positions.[7]
In 1974, the first thawing in the relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan appeared, when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman issued a general amnesty to those involved in war crimes and withdrew the bans on some pro-Pakistan organisations that had operated before Bangladesh's independence. Under pressure from several Muslim nations, Bhutto invited Mujib to Lahore for the annual meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. In the same year, the Parliament of Pakistan authorised Bhutto to extend recognition to Bangladesh. Both nations discussed an agreement in 1975 in which Bangladesh agreed to take up half of Pakistan's pre-1971 external debt provided Bangladesh received half of the country's pre-1971 assets and credit went unresolved.[8]
Although Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had started the improvement of ties with Pakistan, the relations truly normalized and thrived after his assassination, which installed a series of military regimes under Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed, Ziaur Rahman and Hussain Muhammad Ershad, all of whom had been suspected of harboring pro-Pakistan sympathies during and after Bangladesh's liberation war. After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's killing, Pakistan encouraged China and Saudi Arabia to establish ties with Bangladesh. The military regimes of Ziaur Rahman and Hussain Muhammad Ershad abandoned the secularism and pro-India policies espoused by Mujib, establishing Islam as the official religion, controversially pardoning the killers of Mujib, lifting the ban on the main pro-Pakistani organisation, the Jamaat-e-Islami and allowing openly pro-Pakistan politicians such as Golam Azam, Matiur Rahman Nizami, Delawar Hossain Sayidee and Shah Azizur Rahman to return to Bangladesh from Pakistan. Shah Azizur Rahman was appointed prime minister of Bangladesh under Ziaur Rahman.
Relations improved considerably under the military regimes of Ziaur Rahman and Hossain Mohammad Ershad in Bangladesh, which had grown more distant from its war ally, India.[8][9] Five Pakistani heads of government made official visits to Bangladesh since the 1980s and numerous trade and cultural agreements have been signed.[10] Common concerns over India's regional power have influenced strategic cooperation leading to a gift of several squadrons of F-6 fighter aircraft to the Bangladesh Air Force in the late 1980s although they was no serious effort to maintain them as there were later left to be destroyed by a cyclone.[10] Trade between the two countries currently stands at $340 million which is described by the Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Ruhul Alam Siddique as 'negligible when taking into account the combined population' (of both countries). Areas he hopes would induce investment from Pakistan to Bangladesh includes the textiles and energy sectors.[11]
An issue of continuing controversy is the status and return of Biharis, also called Stranded Pakistanis to Pakistan.[12] Numbered around 540,000, these communities had migrated to what became East Pakistan from the Indian state of Bihar after the partition of India in 1947.[8] During the liberation war, these communities supported the Pakistani government and later wanted to emigrate to Pakistan, which stalled and hesitated.[8] By 1982 about 127,000 had been repatriated, leaving about 250,000 people still demanding repatriation.[8] In 1985 there was some progress in this area when Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq agreed to accept the "stranded Pakistanis."[8] In a 2002 visit to Bangladesh, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf signed numerous bilateral agreements but said he could not allow the emigration of Biharis to Pakistan for the time being.[12]
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