Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus put emphasis on strengthening ties with Pakistan to boost mutual cooperation and explore trade and business potentials. The chief adviser made the call yesterday when Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch met him at the state guest house Jamuna. "There are certain hurdles. We have to find ways to overcome those and move forward," the chief adviser told Baloch, who led the Pakistani side in the first foreign secretary level bilateral consultations between the two countries in 15 years. Referring to the past, Baloch said Bangladesh and Pakistan must find ways to "harness the potentials between the two countries." "We have huge intra regional markets on our own rights. We should use it," Baloch said. " "We can't miss the bus every time." She said that there is a need for a regular B2B (business to business) interaction between the private sectors of two countries and exchange visits at all levels. In January 2025, a delegation of Pakistan's apex business chamber FPCCI (Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry) visited Bangladesh and signed an MoU with the FBCCI. The Pakistan foreign secretary hoped that the upcoming visit of the country's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar at the end of April would further strengthen relations between the two countries. The chief adviser said he always preferred closer ties with neighboring countries, including Pakistan, in the framework of SAARC. He said that Bangladesh and Pakistan should exchange more youth and cultural programs between the two countries to increase the people-to-people bonding. "We kept missing each other for a long time as our relationship was frozen. We have to overcome the barriers," he said. The chief adviser recalled his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in New York on the sidelines of the UNGA in September 2024 and in Cairo on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in December 2024, saying that they were key in making progress in bilateral relations. He said that Bangladesh and Pakistan will continue to work closely at multilateral and regional forums like SAARC, OIC, and D-8. Senior secretary on SDG affairs Lamiya Morshed and Pakistan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Syed Ahmed Maroof were among those present at the meeting.