Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning and Development, is set to represent the country at the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
Due to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s foreign commitments, Iqbal will attend the oath-taking ceremony on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, according to an official statement shared by the planning ministry on X. The minister departed from Islamabad for Dhaka on Monday morning.
During his visit, Ahsan Iqbal is expected to hold important meetings with senior Bangladeshi officials. The trip aims to further strengthen bilateral relations and explore new opportunities for cooperation in the political, economic, and trade sectors between the two countries.
Bangladesh’s prime minister-elect, Tarique Rahman, will take the oath on Tuesday following his landslide victory in last week’s general elections. Invitations for the ceremony have been extended to leaders of several South Asian and Muslim-majority nations, including Pakistan, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Malaysia.
According to the Electoral Commission, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) alliance secured 212 seats, while the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance won 77 seats. Rahman, 60, head of the BNP and heir to one of Bangladesh’s most influential political families, is set to lead the nation of 170 million people after sweeping Thursday’s polls.
He will assume office from the interim government that has governed Bangladesh since the student-led uprising ended the rule of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
Rahman’s political comeback is seen as a remarkable turnaround, as he returned to Bangladesh only in December after spending 17 years in exile in Britain, far from the country’s turbulent political landscape.
