ISSI Hosts Session On Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations & Regional Cooperation

The India Study Centre (ISC) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on Tuesday organized an In-House Round-table, titled “Pakistan-Bangladesh Relation and Regional Cooperation”

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Sep, 2025) The India Study Centre (ISC) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on Tuesday organized an In-House Round-table, titled “Pakistan-Bangladesh Relation and Regional Cooperation.”

The Round-table featured Maj. Gen. (R) Fazle Elahi Akbar, Chairman Foundation for Strategic and Development Studies, Bangladesh, as the Distinguished Speaker. It was attended by former diplomats, practitioners, academics, and area specialists, said a press release.

The participants reviewed the recent upward trajectory in the bilateral ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh, opportunities and challenges in geopolitical dynamics of South Asia, and the likely future shape of regional cooperation architecture.

Commending the recent warmth in fraternal relations, participants emphasized the importance of pursuing a forward-looking, future-oriented approach and expanding mutual cooperation beyond traditional spheres. They noted promising developments in productive, multi-sectoral engagement from the government to people’s levels.

The participants were optimistic that common historical and cultural roots, shared interests, and similar challenges give solid basis to pursue shared future objectives. It was suggested that, in order to further strengthen people-to-people exchanges, the two countries should resume direct flights; further ease travel barriers; diversify trade to arenas of their respective strengths; promote bilateral tourism; encourage cultural cooperation; inter-connect youths; open up academic and think-tank exchanges; and learn from each other’s experience and expertise in various domains.

The participants agreed that both Pakistan and Bangladesh share the perspective that regional cooperation can no longer be allowed to remain hostage to the whims of one country. The rapid global transformation to a multipolar world order requires this region to move in tandem and also deepen ways of economic integration and connectivity.

As the leaderships of the two countries have recently reiterated, regional cooperation remains imperative and the revival of SAARC remains crucial. At the same time, the prospects for regional cooperation in myriad formats should be proactively pursued.

The recent Bangladesh-China-Pakistan trilateral was an innovative step and could be replicated in different other geometries. Participants agreed that reimagining South Asia in terms of security, development, and regional cooperation architecture was now indispensable.