When Muslims around the world marked Eid al-Fitr in March, greeting one another, one phone call stood out amid the celebrations. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bangladesh’s new leader, Muhammad Yunus, exchanged festival greetings.

Anyone without the context of contemporary South Asian history could easily gloss over this gesture. The call may appear casual or inconsequential. But for a relationship defined more by estrangement than amity for over five decades, it signified a thaw between two estranged countries.

History runs deep in South Asia. The legacy of 1971 – when East Pakistan broke away to become Bangladesh with Indian military backing – has long cast a shadow over bilateral ties. Since then, relations have often been frosty.

The new warmth has surfaced after the departure of Sheikh Hasina Wazed—long the face of anti-Pakistan rhetoric in Dhaka. It has created a rare opening. Sheikh Hasina fled Dhaka and sought asylum in neighbouring India. 

Yunus, a Nobel laureate renowned for his work on microfinance, represents a stark contrast to his predecessor. As the founder of Grameen Bank, Yunus brought global acclaim and visionary economic leadership to Bangladesh’s interim government. His pioneering work in microfinance has inspired similar initiatives in over 100 developing countries and is studied in top academic programmes worldwide. 

Invited by President Mohammed Shahabuddin to lead during a period of political unrest, Yunus was the unanimous choice of student protest leaders to guide the nation through transition. He will remain at the helm until elections are held, expected by mid-2026, with early signs of economic recovery already emerging under his leadership.

Unlike Yunus’s predecessor, Sheikh Hasina, who led the Awami League political party, thrived on promoting animosity towards Pakistan. Her party leaned heavily on historical grievances. For independent analysts, she remained squarely obsessed with her country’s history, ignoring the commonalities – notably ties built through the Islamic faith that the majority of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis follow.

One such memorable commonality remains that of Pakistan’s state-controlled media in the 1960s, repeatedly telling their audience of the unique status of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. A ‘city of mosques’ or indeed ‘the world’s capital of mosques’ was a title bestowed upon Dhaka- given the large number of Muslim prayer centres built in that city.

For over two decades following independence in 1947, Pakistan and what is now Bangladesh remained one country, until their separation in 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the founding father of Bangladesh and father of Sheikh Hasina, rose to political prominence during that period of unity.

For many older Pakistanis, one defining image remains: Mujib’s arrival in Lahore in 1974 for an Islamic summit—a moment that marked Pakistan’s formal recognition of Bangladesh and a cautious first step toward normalising ties after the painful rupture of partition.

Despite these links, the post-1971 relationship has largely stagnated. Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League built its political narrative on the trauma of partition. Under her rule, bilateral diplomacy rarely moved beyond the perfunctory.

Yunus’s ascension signals the possibility of a pragmatic reset. Pakistan, for its part, appears eager to seize the moment.

Reconciliation will not be easy. A younger generation in both countries has grown up with little memory of shared statehood. Any talk of “reunification” is not only fanciful but dangerous.

India, the nation-state in between the countries, and Bangladesh’s key strategic partner, would view any such moves with deep suspicion. But deeper engagement need not provoke Delhi. Trade, diplomacy, and multilateral cooperation offer safer terrain.

Trade and cultural cooperation

Pakistan’s decision to set a $3 billion trade target with Bangladesh earlier this year—more than four times the current level—reflects a break with that past, and perhaps a renewed appetite for economic cooperation.

Beyond initiating direct trade, several other developments have strengthened Bangladesh-Pakistan ties. Muhammad Yunus has met Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif multiple times at recent multilateral forums. 

Additionally, military ties are growing, with a rare high-level Bangladeshi delegation visiting Pakistan in January and the Bangladeshi navy joining a maritime exercise off Karachi in February.

In South Asia, where history casts a shadow over ties, it is also replete with memory. The softer strands—culture, music, film—do much of the unspoken work, healing through memory what history holds captive. Though cultural exchanges seldom create immediate economic benefits, they are known to provide a cushion to support an overall journey towards closer ties. 

In the case of Pakistan and Bangladesh, there is much by way of shared cultural values to give a further impetus to closer relations.

Shabnam Ghosh, the Bangladeshi actress who migrated from then-United Pakistan in 1974, is still remembered fondly across Pakistan. And recently, when Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, the Pakistani maestro of Sufi music, arrived in Bangladesh for a concert, he was met with a kind of reception reserved for rock stars and spiritual figures alike. The ovation was, perhaps, for the idea of connection itself.

These cultural echoes are not insignificant. It is no coincidence that such gestures arrive at a moment when both countries find themselves buffeted by larger economic tides.

From shared history to unified goals

To sustain this tentative warming of relations, Pakistan and Bangladesh will have to do more than set trade targets or swap pleasantries.

Both nations, targeted by US President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies, share a common cause in pushing for fairer access to global markets. In response, both nations now find themselves searching for alternatives—new markets, new allies, perhaps even old friends.

With the United States scaling back funding to key UN agencies that support development efforts in education and healthcare, countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh now face a widening gap. There is a renewed urgency to reassess and address their needs independently.

Over the past decades, Bangladesh has managed something extraordinary: a quiet, disciplined uplift of its poorest citizens, led largely by its women, many of whom found employment in the garment factories that power the nation’s exports. What was once considered one of the world’s poorest countries now stands as an instructive model.

Both countries will need to commit to a kind of diplomacy. It will mean setting aside the impulse to relitigate history, and instead, looking forward—toward what might be built in partnership.

Pakistan, grappling with deep poverty and the effects of climate change, has much to learn from Bangladesh’s experience in poverty reduction and the growth of its textile sector. Bangladesh, in turn, can benefit from Pakistani investment and market access.

There is room, too, for collaboration on global platforms. As Western funding for multilateral development agencies recedes, regional cooperation—on climate resilience, education, and public health—will become more critical.

Yunus, a figure of global stature, could prove instrumental in bridging gaps not only with Islamabad but in multilateral fora as well.

Symbolism matters in diplomacy. For Pakistan and Bangladesh, last week’s exchange of ‘Eid’ greetings between their leaders must mark the first step towards reaching a more meaningful and mutually beneficial goal. After 50 years of estrangement, even small steps can carry the weight of history.