Diplomacy

Bangladesh refuses to accept new envoy of Pakistan

Diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh hit a new low after Dhaka refused to accept the new high commissioner of Pakistan to the country and sought a new name for the post, reported the Express Tribune.

According to the report, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid did not mention any reason for refusing to accept Saqlain Syedah’s credentials.

The post had fallen vacant after the retirement of Rafiuzaman Siddiqui in February last year. Syedah was designated as new high commissioner to Bangladesh following Siddiqui’s retirement. She is a PBS-20 officer of the foreign service of Pakistan.

Ties between Islamabad and Dhaka have been deteriorating since Hasina Wajid’s government resumed the trial of 1971 ‘war crimes’ that had been suspended after the 1974 accord between Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

Last year, the Foreign Office had condemned ‘anti-Pakistan’ statements issued by the Bangladesh premier, in which she had urged her compatriots to punish those who still loved Pakistan despite living in an independent nation.

“The people of Bangladesh must respond to those who have been lost in their love for Pakistan. They must be punished. We must make them forget their love for Pakistan,” she had said at an event in March last year.

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