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DHAKA: Bangladesh and Pakistan, once bitter enemies after they split in 1971, agreed Sunday to bolster long-strained relations, including increasing trade.
But Dhaka said a key issue, of wanting an apology from Islamabad for atrocities during the war when East Pakistan broke away to form Bangladesh, remained “unresolved.”
“The scope and possibility of doing good for the two peoples of our two countries is tremendous,” said Islamabad’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the most senior Pakistani official to have visited Dhaka since 2012.
Pakistan’s military was accused of widespread atrocities during the 1971 war.
Hundreds of thousands were killed — Bangladeshi estimates say millions — and many in Dhaka still demand Islamabad apologize for the killings.
Dhaka’s foreign affairs adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain said that the issue of an apology was not solved, but agreed to strengthen ties between the nations.
“We have reached a consensus that the pending issues must be resolved so they don’t stand as obstacles in our relationship,” Hossain told reporters.
Agreements were signed to deepen trade and economic ties, as well as boost cultural exchanges.
Analysts say neighboring India, which fought a four-day conflict with Pakistan in May, will be watching closely.
Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi turned icy in August 2024 after a mass uprising in Bangladesh ended the autocratic rule of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, prompting her to flee to India.

LONDON: Marjorie Taylor Greene, the US congresswoman from Georgia, has enraged fellow Republicans by condemning Israel and urging support for Gaza on social media.

She has described Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave as “genocide,” and took to X to condemn the country’s “day and night” bombing of civilians.

“This is what is happening to Gaza where in spite of what we have all been told, many innocent people and children are being killed and they are not Hamas,” Greene posted.

“Does Hamas deserve it? Yes. Do innocent people and children deserve it? No,” she said. “The innocent people in Gaza did not kill and kidnap the innocent people in Israel on Oct 7th. Just as we spoke out and had compassion for the victims and families of (Oct. 7), how can Americans not speak out and have compassion for the masses of innocent people and children in Gaza?”

Israel maintains significant cross-party support with senior politicians in the US, particularly Republicans.
Since the start of the Gaza war, which has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, the US has given around $18 billion to Israel in military aid.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to pay for genocide in a foreign country against a foreign people for a foreign war that I had nothing to do with,” Greene said. “And I will not be silent about it.”

Her post prompted a fierce response, including from self-described “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer, who last week celebrated the State Department’s suspension of US visas for Palestinian children with special medical needs.

“Why are you advocating for GAZANS to come to the US? How is Islamic immigration ‘America First’?” Loomer posted in response to Greene.

Last month, Greene criticized Republican colleague Randy Fine after he suggested that Gaza should be starved until Hamas releases the hostages it still holds from Oct. 7, 2023. He also said claims of famine in the enclave are “all a lie anyway.”

Greene said on X: “I can only imagine how Florida’s 6th district feels now that their Representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children.”

She added: “It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza.

“But a Jewish U.S. Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful.”

Loomer responded to Greene: “There is no genocide in Gaza.”