External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was in Dhaka to attend the funeral of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, met Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq ahead of the funeral programme.
Photographs of the two leaders exchanging greetings were shared by Bangladesh’s interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, on X. Sharing the images, the official handle of the Chief Adviser to the Government of Bangladesh wrote, “Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, exchanges greetings with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Dhaka on Wednesday, ahead of the funeral programme of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.”
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar handed over a condolence letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman.
Khaleda Zia, 80, passed away after a prolonged illness at 6:00 am on Tuesday, shortly after the Fajr (dawn) prayer, at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.
According to reports, scores of leaders from South Asia, including Nepal Foreign Minister Nanda Sharma, Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, Bhutan Foreign Minister D.N. Dhungyel, Maldives Education Minister Ali Haider Ahmed, Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, and representatives from the governments of Thailand and Malaysia, attended the funeral of the former Bangladesh Prime Minister.
