Bangladesh has sought an apology from Pakistan for alleged war crimes its army committed during the 1971 war, the Daily Star said in a report on Monday. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni sought a formal apology from Islamabad for the atrocities he said had been committed by the Pakistani military in Bangladesh in 1971. Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, seceded from Pakistan after a bloody war in December 1971.
“An early resolution of the outstanding issues will enable the existing friendly relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan to make a great leap forward and create a wider space for cooperation,” Moni was quoted as telling Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi, the new Pakistani envoy to Bangladesh. Hashmi made his first call on the foreign minister at her office on Sunday afternoon. On duty waiver for Pakistani products into the European Union following the devastating floods this year, Moni said Bangladesh was sympathetic towards the flood victims of Pakistan, but giving trade preference to a country solely on account of natural disasters was unprecedented.