Dhaka, Apr 15 (PTI) Bangladesh will hold its first foreign office consultation (FOC) with Pakistan after a gap of 15 years in the capital on Thursday, officials said on Tuesday.

"Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday to lead her country’s delegation at the talks,” the state-run BSS news agency reported, quoting a senior foreign ministry spokesman.

It said Bangladesh’s foreign secretary M Jashim Uddin will lead the Bangladesh side at the FOC, where the two sides are expected to discuss the entire range of bilateral issues.

The official said no specific agenda was fixed for the talks as all areas of mutual interest were likely to be covered during the discussion.

  “After such a long hiatus, it is difficult to prioritize topics in advance, but the talks will be comprehensive,” the official said.

Baloch is expected to pay courtesy calls on interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Foreign Affairs Adviser M Touhid Hossain following the FOC.

Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Pakistan M Iqbal Hussain Khan, currently in Dhaka to attend the meeting, told BSS that Islamabad is particularly keen to enhance trade ties with Dhaka.

“Pakistan sees potential for boosting exports to Bangladesh, especially if their products are price competitive,” he said, citing cotton as a major item that Pakistan was interested in exporting.

He added that as Pakistan serves as a gateway for goods from Afghanistan and Iran, there was scope for Bangladesh to explore imports via Pakistan, provided transport costs were low.

Bangladesh resumed direct trade with Pakistan for the first time since its 1971 independence, with the first shipment of 50,000 tonnes of rice leaving Port Qasim under a government-to-government deal in February.

Business sources, however, said the price of Pakistani rice is higher than that of rice from Vietnam, which Bangladesh was importing at USD 474.25 per ton.

Dhaka-Islamabad relations were at the lowest ebb during the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime, particularly since 2010 when Dhaka initiated the trial of hardened collaborators of Pakistani troops during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War.

But, the ties took a positive course since Yunus’s interim government assumed power after the ouster of Hasina in a student-led uprising on August 5 last year.

Officials said Pakistan’s private airline Fly Jinnah has obtained Bangladesh clearance for operating flights between Dhaka and Karachi, while another Pakistani private carrier, Air Sial, applied to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) for its flight operation as well.

Asked about unresolved historical issues between the two nations, Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Pakistan said such matters often persist in bilateral relations worldwide but should not hinder current engagement or economic cooperation.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is scheduled to visit Dhaka later this month, which will be the maiden visit by a Pakistani foreign minister since 2012.

“We are still finalizing the date, but the visit is likely to take place in the last week of April,” the foreign ministry spokesman said.

The last FOC between Bangladesh and Pakistan was held in 2010. PTI AR ZH ZH