Bangladesh | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, China and Bangladesh have launched a trilateral cooperation mechanism, pledging to pursue “win-win cooperation” in what could mark a subtle yet significant shift in South Asia’s strategic landscape. The announcement came after the inaugural meeting of the Bangladesh-China-Pakistan Vice Foreign Minister/Foreign Secretary mechanism on Friday. A statement issued by the Foreign Office said the meeting was attended by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, Bangladesh’s acting Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique and Pakistan’s Additional Foreign Secretary Imran Ahmed Siddiqui. Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch joined the initial session via video link. New trilateral forum looks to enhance engagement, work for more trade, investment In her remarks, Ms Baloch expressed Pakistan’s desire for a deeper engagement between China and South Asian countries. She highlighted the “upward trajectory of bilateral ties” with both China and Bangladesh and “conveyed Pakistan’s readiness to work with the two ...

Bangladesh’s war crimes court ordered fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina on Monday to return to face trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Hasina, 77, fled Dhaka by helicopter to India in August 2024 at the culmination of a student-led mass uprising. She has defied an extradition order to return to Bangladesh. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a crackdown in a failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations. Hasina and former senior figures connected to her ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League, are being prosecuted in Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina, including abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder — charges that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. “The court directed the prosecution team to issue a notice as soon as possible summoning them to appear befor...

DHAKA:  A mob attacked and vandalised Tagore’s ancestral home in Sirajganj district, Bangladesh, following a dispute over parking fees. The incident took place at Rabindra Kachharibari, also known as the Rabindra Memorial Museum, prompting officials to establish a three-member investigating committee. The conflict started on June 8, when a visitor and his family allegedly had […]

DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold elections in early April 2026 for the first time since a mass uprising overthrew the government last year, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said on Friday. The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted by a student-led revolt in August 2024, ending her iron-fisted rule of 15 years. “I am announcing to the citizens of the country that the election will be held on any day in the first half of April 2026,” said Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who leads the caretaker government. Political parties jostling for power have been repeatedly demanding that Yunus fix an election timetable, while he has said time is needed as the country requires an overhaul of its democratic institutions after Hasina’s tenure. Interim leader Yunus says his govt’s major responsibility is to ensure ‘transparent, participatory election’ “The government has been doing everything necessary to create an environment...

DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold a national election in the first half of April 2026, its de facto premier, Muhammad Yunus, said on Friday, after a period of interim unelected government since student-led unrest in 2024 toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The administration led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been running the […]

Mohammad Haris hit a swashbuckling maiden international century to guide Pakistan to a 3-0 clean sweep of Bangladesh with a seven-wicket win in the third and final Twenty20 international in Lahore on Sunday. Haris, playing in his 17th T20I, carted seven sixes and eight boundaries in his 107 off just 46 balls as Pakistan chased down a challenging 197-run target in 17.2 overs for their first home T20I series win in three-and-a-half years. Pakistan won the first two matches by 37 and 57 runs at the same venue. Parvez Hossain smashed four sixes and seven boundaries in his solid 34-ball 66 to lift Bangladesh to 196-6 in their 20 overs. Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan for one in the first over, but Haris, whose hundred came up off 45 balls, added 92 for the second wicket with Saim Ayub and an unbroken 60 for the fourth with Salman Agha, who made 15 not out. Ayub hit four sixes and two boundaries in his 29-ball 45 while Hasan Nawaz scored 13-ball 26 as the home batters enthralled a near-capacity 30,000 crowd at Gadda...

President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan intends to forge strong bilateral relations with Bangladesh in all areas including commerce, trade, sports, culture and people-to-people ties.

Bangladesh on Sunday restored the registration of the Jamaat-i-Islami party, allowing it to take part in elections, more than a decade after it was removed under the now-overthrown government. The country’s supreme court overturned a cancellation of Jamaat-i-Islami’s registration, allowing it to be formally listed as a political party with the election commission. “The election commission is directed to deal with the registration of that party in accordance with law,” commission lawyer Towhidul Islam told AFP. Jamaat-i-Islami party lawyer, Shishir Monir, said the supreme court’s decision would allow a “democratic, inclusive and multi-party system” in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people. “We hope that Bangladeshis, regardless of their ethnicity or religious identity, will vote for Jamaat, and that the parliament will be vibrant with constructive debates,” Monir told journalists. After Sheikh Hasina was ousted as prime minister in August, the party appealed for a review of the 2013 high court orde...

LAHORE: Sahibzada Farhan looked keen on making up for lost time. Almost six months since he last represented Pakistan, the flamboyant opener sparkled with a career-best 74 as hosts trounced a hapless Bangladesh by 57 runs in the second Twenty20 International at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday to seal the three-match series with a game to spare. With Sahibzada in full flow — having returned to the national team fold after an impressive show in the Pakistan Super League — and Hasan Nawaz making a quickfire 51 not out, Pakistan amassed 201-6 after electing to bat. The bowlers then came to the fore as Bangladesh lost their way after a bright start; spinner Abrar Ahmed being the destroyer-in-chief with 3-19 as Pakistan bundled them out for 144 with only Tanzim Hasan Sakib (50) offering some late resistance. It was Pakistan’s first series victory since they beat Zimbabwe in December last year. Sahibzada’s poor return in that series had seen him fall out of national reckoning, but on his return, he set the tone for Pa...

LAHORE: A pumped-up Pakistan side will look to go all out against Bangladesh in the second T20 International in Lahore on Friday to take an unassailable lead in the three-match series. Pakistan during the past year or so have experienced an alarming decline in their T20 International contests, winning only nine while losing nineteen. Currently languishing at eighth in the ICC T20 International team rankings, the Green-shirts under new captain Salman Ali Agha no doubt will seek to make progress against Bangladesh who are ninth. The home side in the series opener on Wednesday comfortably defeated Bangladesh by 37 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium thanks to impressive batting by Salman (56), Shadab Khan (48, 4-26) and Hasan Nawaz (44). Returning fast bowler Hasan Ali (5-30) produced his best-ever show in the game. Pakistan are expected to remain unchanged for the second T20 while Bangladesh are most likely to make a couple of changes as they will look to keep the series alive. Both teams did not practise on Thursday, ...

LAHORE: Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 37 runs in the first T20 match held at Gaddafi Stadium. Chasing a target of 202 runs set by Pakistan, the Bangladesh team was bowled out for 164 runs in 19.2 overs. Skipper Litton Das’s valiant 48-run effort went in vain. Zakir Ali scored 36 runs, while Tanzid Hasan made […]

Primary school teachers in Bangladesh joined public sector workers in protests against the interim government on Monday amid growing discontent and political uncertainty in the South Asian country. Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, took over as interim head of the country last August after deadly student-led protests forced then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. Yunus’ administration has faced pressure from civil servants, teachers, political parties and the military as the caretaker government attempts to guide the country through a fragile transition before holding a general election. The government issued an ordinance on Sunday allowing the Ministry of Public Administration to dismiss public servants for misconduct without lengthy procedures, sparking outrage across the bureaucracy. Government employees continued their demonstrations for a third consecutive day on Monday, calling the ordinance “repressive” and demanding its immediate withdrawal. Thousands of teachers in government prima...

Bangladesh on Sunday began the first trial at a special court prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Sheikh Hasina, the chief prosecutor said. The court in the capital Dhaka accepted a formal charge against eight police officials in connection with the killing of six protesters on August 5 last year, the day Hasina fled the country as the protesters stormed her palace. The eight men are charged with crimes against humanity. Four are in custody and four are being tried in absentia. “The formal trial has begun,” Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters. “The prosecution believes that this prosecution will be able to prove the crimes done by the accused.” It is the first formal charge in any case related to the killings during last year’s student-led uprising, which ended Hasina’s iron-fisted rule of 15 years. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal cam...

THE government of Bangladesh has cancelled a $21 million contract awarded to Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), an Indian public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, for the construction of an advanced ocean-going tug, The Hindu reported. According to the Indian publication, the cancellation closely follows India’s recent move to withdraw the transhipment facility previously extended to Bangladesh to export its cargo to third countries — a development that analysts interpret as signalling strain in bilateral relations. In a regulatory disclosure submitted to the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and BSE Ltd under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Require­ments) Regulations, 2015, GRSE confirmed that the government of Bangladesh had cancelled the order, originally placed in July 2024. The cancellation adds to a series of geopolitical developments since the change in political leadership in Bangladesh following the fall of prime minis...

A key Bangladeshi party leader at the forefront of the revolt that ousted premier Sheikh Hasina warned on Saturday that an army-backed leadership could replace the interim government. Nahid Islam, leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP), made up of many students who spearheaded the uprising that ended Hasina’s 15-year iron-fisted rule last year, said he worried about an “anti-democratic” future. Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner leading the caretaker government until elections are held, has called for rival political parties jostling for power to give him their full support. Bangladesh has a long history of coups, and the army retains a powerful role. Islam, an ally of Yunus who previously served in his cabinet, told reporters on Saturday that he foresaw a situation similar to January 11, 2007, when a state of emergency was declared, resulting in a two-year-long military-backed government. “There are indications that a 1/11-style military-backed government could re-emerge — one that ...

Human Rights Watch strongly criticised Bangladesh’s interim government on Thursday, warning that it risked “undermining fundamental freedoms” through measures including its ban on the former ruling party. The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since the student-led revolt that ousted then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, with parties protesting on the streets over a string of demands. The interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has promised democratic reforms and vowed polls will be held by June 2026 at the latest. However, New York-based HRW said Yunus risked following the example of Hasina in clamping down on opponents. “Instead of pursuing its pledge to reform the criminal justice system and bring accountability for serious abuses, the government … is attempting to suppress the rights of supporters of the deposed leader,” the rights group said in a statement. HRW said the government had used “newly introduced powers under a draconian a...

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina masterminded a deadly crackdown on mass protests that prompted her ouster last year, prosecutors at a domestic war crimes tribunal said on Monday. Up to 1,400 people died in July 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the opposition, according to the United Nations. Hasina lives in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled by helicopter, and has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka over charges of crimes against humanity. “The investigation team has found Sheikh Hasina culpable in at least five charges,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters. “They have brought charges of abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising.” Tajul Islam said the prosecution had submitted its first report to be presented at the court set to try Hasina and two of her aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman...

Bangladesh’s interim government has banned all activities of the Awami League, the political party of deposed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act, citing national security concerns. The decision, announced late Saturday, follows days of street protests led by the student-driven National Citizen Party, which emerged from last year’s uprising that toppled Hasina. Several Islamist and right-wing parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition groups, joined the demonstrations, demanding that the Awami League be designated a terrorist organisation. The ban would remain in place until the trial of the party and its leadership over the deaths of hundreds of protesters at the International Crimes Tribunal is completed, the government said in a statement. The government also announced an amendment to the ICT Act, allowing the tribunal to prosecute not only individuals but also political parties and organisations. The change clears the way for the Awami League to be trie...

Thousands of people rallied on Friday outside the residence of Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus, demanding that he ban the political party of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus, 84, has led an interim government since Hasina was overthrown by student-led mass protests in August 2024 and fled into exile as crowds stormed her palace. Friday’s rally came after the sudden departure of Abdul Hamid, a former leader of Hasina’s Awami League party, from Bangladesh early on Thursday. A crowd, mainly made up of young people, had started gathering outside Yunus’ residence on Thursday night. Hasnat Abdullah, the chief organiser of the newly formed National Citizen’s Party, said the demonstration would continue until their demands were met. “Sheikh Hasina robbed the people of Bangladesh of their democratic rights. She manipulated the system to prevent any real opposition from participating in the election,” Kamrul said. “We saw Abdul Hamid leave the country safely. The actions of...

Three days of political rallies began in Bangladesh on Thursday with rival groups set to stage mass demonstrations in Dhaka, drumming up support for eagerly anticipated elections following an uprising last year. Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, who has led an interim government since autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled into exile as crowds stormed her palace in August, has said elections will be held as early as December, and at the latest by mid-2026. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), widely tipped to win the poll, will hold a May Day rally in Dhaka. “We are confident this will be the most memorable grand rally in recent times,” BNP media officer Shairul Kabir Khan said. Jamaat-e-Islami will also take to the streets of the capital on Thursday. The Jatiya Party, formerly close to Hasina’s regime, will also hold a rally. It will be its first outdoor political event since its offices were vandalised in October, allegedly for helping Hasina’s Awami League cling to power. On Friday, the...