Islamabad: Pakistan and Bangladesh have initiated direct government-to-government trade after decades of troubled relations. The first consignment under this arrangement comprises 50,000 tonnes of rice, a senior Bangladeshi official announced on Tuesday.
This development follows months of political upheaval in Bangladesh, marked by the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Hasina fled to India via helicopter, where she has since resisted extradition requests to face charges of crimes against humanity. Relations between India and Bangladesh’s new government have since cooled, paving the way for improved ties between Dhaka and Islamabad.
The resumption of direct trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh began in November 2024, when a container ship from Karachi arrived at Bangladesh’s Chittagong port—the first direct cargo shipment between the two nations in decades.
“For the first time, we are importing 50,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan, and it is the first government-to-government deal between the two countries,” said Ziauddin Ahmed, a senior official from Bangladesh’s food ministry, on Tuesday.
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A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in January between Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to facilitate the rice imports.
Ahmed emphasized that trade with Pakistan opens “a new avenue of sourcing and competitive pricing,” noting that in recent years, Bangladesh has mainly imported rice from India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
As a low-lying nation highly vulnerable to climate change, Bangladesh heavily relies on rice imports to ensure food security. The country of 170 million people is particularly at risk of devastating floods and cyclones, challenges expected to intensify due to global warming.
While private Bangladeshi firms have been importing Pakistani rice for years, logistical challenges previously required goods to be transferred via feeder vessels in intermediary ports such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, or Singapore. The recent direct trade agreement eliminates these inefficiencies, marking a new chapter in Pakistan-Bangladesh economic relations.
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