Ahsan Iqbal to attend oath-taking ceremony of new Bangladesh govt tomorrow

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal will attend the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected government of Bangladesh, scheduled to be held in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The planning minister will represent Pakistan, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will not be able to attend the ceremony due to a prior overseas engagement, according to a Foreign Office statement.

Pakistan’s participation in the ceremony reflects its support for Bangladesh’s democratic process and underscores its commitment to further strengthening bilateral relations and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, it added.

READ MORE: Bangladesh’s BNP wins two-thirds majority in landmark election

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a decisive two-thirds majority on February 13 in general elections, a result expected to bring stability after months of tumult following the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a Gen Z-led uprising.

The BNP and its allies won at least 212 of the 299 seats up for grabs, domestic TV channels had said.

The opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies had won 70 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, or House of the Nation.