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New Delhi:
A Pakistani cargo ship docked at Chittagong port in Bangladesh last week, marking the first-ever direct maritime contact between the two countries in more than fifty years. The Karachi-based ship has successfully offloaded its containers on Bangladesh’s southeastern coast, port officials told AFP on Sunday, as both sides try to rebuild ties frozen since the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
The direct maritime ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh underscore a historic shift in the traditionally complex relationship between India’s western and eastern neighbors. It also affects New Delhi’s security, especially because of Bangladesh’s proximity to India’s northeastern states.
Mooring of Pakistani ship in Bangladesh
The Panamanian-flagged Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan, a 182-meter container ship, had sailed from Karachi, Pakistan, to Chittagong, Bangladesh. The ship had discharged its cargo in Bangladesh on November 11 before leaving the port, AFP reported, citing top Chittagong official Omar Faruq.
Chittagong port authorities reportedly said the ship was carrying goods from Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, including raw materials for Bangladesh’s main garment industry and basic food products.
Pakistani goods were previously transferred to feeder ships, usually in Sri Lanka, Malaysia or Singapore, before being transported to Bangladesh. However, in September, Bangladesh, under the new interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, relaxed import restrictions on Pakistani goods, which previously required a mandatory physical inspection upon arrival, leading to major delays.
Opening the direct maritime link is seen as an attempt by Bangladesh’s interim government to maintain strong ties with Pakistan.
There has been widespread discussion on social media in Bangladesh following a post by Pakistan’s envoy in Dhaka, Syed Ahmed Maroof, that the direct shipping route is “an important step” in boosting trade between the two countries.
The route will “promote new opportunities for businesses on both sides,” Maroof wrote on Facebook.
Bangladesh-Pakistan Relations and the Shadow of the 1971 Liberation War
Pakistan and Bangladesh – once one nation – split in 1971 after Mukti Juddho (Liberation War). The memory of the brutal war, which killed around three million people and raped and tortured tens of thousands of others, remained deeply etched in Bangladesh’s national psyche until recently.
Bangladesh, formerly known as East Pakistan, became an independent nation after a nine-month war with West Pakistan in 1971, during which India helped Bangladeshi freedom fighters.
Bilateral ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh have remained sour since the Liberation War, especially under the regime of Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, whose central political agenda was to seek justice for the atrocities committed by Pakistan during the brutal war.
Ms Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh from 1996-2001 and 2009-2024, established the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010 to prosecute war criminals and criminals. razakars for their war crimes in 1971. They also banned the historically pro-Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami, whose leader Abdul Quader Mollah was convicted of war crimes by the ICT in 2013. Mollah became the first of many razakars who would be executed during Ms. Hasina’s rule.
Relationship between India and Bangladesh after 1971
Meanwhile, Ms. Hasina continued to bring Bangladesh closer to India throughout the year. India already had a close relationship with Bangladeshi, thanks to New Delhi’s assistance in the Bangladesh Liberation War.
The ousted former prime minister and her family reportedly had a close personal relationship with the Nehru-Gandhi family, but her government’s crackdown on terrorism and religious extremism proved to be a strategic glue that tied successive Indian governments to her regime.
Her relationship with New Delhi helped her flee to India on August 5 after a student-led revolution against her regime escalated. But Bangladesh’s ties with New Delhi deteriorated after the overthrow of its autocratic Hasina regime.
Hasina’s Ouster
For years, Ms Hasina has reaped political rewards from her party and family’s contributions to the liberation of Bangladesh, but recent protests across the country seem to indicate that this sentiment is not resonating with many.
So when Ms. Hasina labeled the protesters as “razakars” in July it failed, sparking outrage amid real social and economic problems plaguing the country.
Moreover, there was reportedly resentment among Bengalis against Ms Hasina for ‘making herself comfortable’ in New Delhi. According to a report from Indian Expressmany in Bangladesh felt that India was too involved in the country’s affairs. Growing ‘anti-India’ sentiment in Bangladesh was reflected when a mob in August vandalized and burned the Indira Gandhi Cultural Center (IGCC), the center of Indian cultural activity in the Bangladeshi capital for more than fifty years stung.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed the creation of Bangladesh, has a strong presence in the post-Hasina dispensation in Dhaka.
Growing ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh
After Ms Hasina’s ouster, Yunus’ interim government has shown a shift towards closer ties with Pakistan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan and Mr Yunus discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September this year.
“The maritime link is essential to revitalize our relations,” Mr Yunus said recently, calling for a “new page” in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations to improve cooperation in various sectors.
Bangladesh also appears to be moving in Pakistan’s direction, with the country’s Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman calling for the words ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ to be removed from Bangladesh’s constitution. The proposal has raised fears that the predominantly Muslim country could be moving towards an Islamic state.
Moreover, Bangladesh is also seeking the extradition of deposed Ms. Hasina, who remains in exile in India. Dhaka has already issued an arrest warrant for the 77-year-old and summoned her to appear in court in Dhaka to face charges of “massacres, killings and crimes against humanity”.
Mr Yunus said his government is focused on ensuring that those guilty of the crackdown on protests to oust Ms Hasina are brought to justice.
The 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was appointed to head the government as “chief adviser” on August 9, days after the end of Hasina’s 15-year iron rule. Yunus, in an address to the country that has been in power for 100 days since a student-led revolution, said he had spoken to Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
“We will demand the extradition of the ousted autocrat from India,” Yunus said, referring to Ms Hasina.
Earlier this month, Bangladesh said it would seek a “red alert” from Interpol for fugitive leaders of Ms Hasina’s regime. Red notices issued by the Global Police alert law enforcement agencies around the world to fugitives.
India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean that New Delhi must extradite Ms Hasina. Member states can “apply their own laws when deciding whether to arrest someone,” said the group, which organizes police cooperation among 196 member states.
Impact on India
With narcotics trafficking increasing in Pakistan, growing ties between Islamabad and Dhaka could become a national security problem for India. Another security concern for New Delhi is the involvement of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI in activities that destabilize the region.
Over the years, India has used its relationship with Ms. Hasina to monitor activities at Chittagong port, where about 1,500 boxes of Chinese ammunition were seized in 2004. The shipment, said to have an estimated value of $4.5 million to $7 million, is believed to be masterminded by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The consignment was reportedly intended to be delivered to the banned terrorist organization ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) in India.
Mr Yunus, however, has ensured that relations between Dhaka and Delhi should be “very close” despite the recent regime change in the country, asserting that this is in the interest of both countries.
“The relations between the two countries must be very close. There can be no alternative to this. They need this, we need this. This is essential from every angle, be it economy, security or water,” he said . Bengali language daily Prothom Alo in October.
When asked about his comments on the recent tensions in bilateral ties, Yunus said the recent incidents in Bangladesh may have “disheartened” India and that “they were not happy with the changes.” He did not report the incidents.
“It will be difficult for us to continue without each other. It is only natural that we have close ties and good relations in every field,” he said.
India has urged Bangladesh’s interim government to ensure peaceful religious events for the South Asian country’s Hindu community. More than 600 people, including Hindus, were killed during violent protests in Bangladesh following the ouster of the Hasina-led government, according to a UN report.
“It will become clear to them when they see that the whole world accepts us. How can they not accept us?” he added.
He said that on South Asian diplomacy, his interim government attached great importance to strengthening ties with India and “at the same time strengthening SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation”).