A fraught new frontier in Bangladesh–Pakistan relations

THEY WERE ONCE one country, but, in Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina, Pakistan was a taboo subject. Relations had been fraught ever since Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan in 1971, but, in the last 15 years, they reached an all-time low. Trade, the movement of people and official cooperation all ground almost to a complete halt. Pakistani diplomats in Dhaka were given the cold shoulder and two were even expelled. Meanwhile, most Pakistanis found Bangladesh off-limits for travel as an iron curtain seemed to descend.

All that has changed since Hasina fell last August, after four terms of increasingly authoritarian rule. India has become the focus of public and political resentment, while some in Bangladesh have wondered aloud about a closer relationship with Pakistan. As Bangladeshis reckon with their national identity in the aftermath of the “Monsoon Revolution” of 2024, many have started to look on Pakistan with different eyes, while state-to-state relations between the two countries are being conducted with a warmth unseen for decades.