Direct Pakistan-Bangladesh shipping route marks rebuilding ties

Direct Pakistan-Bangladesh shipping route marks rebuilding ties
In this file photo, taken on April 6, 2023, shipping containers are seen stacked on a ship at a seaport in Karachi. (AFP/File)
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Updated 17 November 2024

Direct Pakistan-Bangladesh shipping route marks rebuilding ties

Direct Pakistan-Bangladesh shipping route marks rebuilding ties
  • Dhaka’s ties with New Delhi frayed after former PM Sheikh Hasina flew to India after violent protests
  • Ship from Karachi brought goods from Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates to Bangladesh’s Chittagong

DHAKA: The first cargo ship in decades to sail directly from Pakistan to Bangladesh successfully unloaded its containers, port officials told AFP Sunday, as both sides seek to rebuild ties after decades of frosty relations.
The two countries, once one nation, split in 1971 after a brutal war, with Bangladesh then drawing closer to Pakistan’s rival India.
But its ties with New Delhi have frayed after a student-led revolution in August toppled Bangladesh’s autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India by helicopter.
The 182-meter (597-foot) long container ship — the Panama-flagged Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan — had sailed from Pakistan’s Karachi to Bangladesh’s Chittagong.
Top Chittagong port official Omar Faruq confirmed to AFP on Sunday that the ship had unloaded its cargo on November 11 before departing.
Pakistan’s envoy to Dhaka, Syed Ahmed Maroof, sparked widespread discussion on social media in Bangladesh when he said after the docking that the direct shipping route was “a major step” in boosting trade across the region.
The route will “promote new opportunities for businesses on both sides,” Maroof wrote on Facebook.
Chittagong port authorities said the ship brought goods from Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, including raw materials for Bangladesh’s key garment industry and basic foodstuffs.
In September, Bangladesh eased import restrictions on Pakistani goods, which previously required a mandatory physical inspection on arrival which resulted in long delays.
Pakistani goods previously had to be off-loaded onto feeder vessels — usually in Sri Lanka, Malaysia or Singapore — before traveling to Bangladesh.


Pakistan’s Rauf given two-match ban, others sanctioned for Asia Cup behavior

Pakistan’s Rauf given two-match ban, others sanctioned for Asia Cup behavior
Updated 10 sec ago

Pakistan’s Rauf given two-match ban, others sanctioned for Asia Cup behavior

Pakistan’s Rauf given two-match ban, others sanctioned for Asia Cup behavior
  • Others whohave been sanctioned include India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah as well as Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan
  • Emotions ran high around the matches between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who engaged in a brief military conflict in May

Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf has received a two-match suspension for breaching the ICC’s code of conduct during matches against India at the Asia Cup in September, the governing body said on Tuesday.

India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah as well as Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan also committed the same offense of breaching article 2.21 of the ICC’s code of conduct, which relates to “conduct that brings the game into disrepute,” the ICC said in a statement.

Emotions ran high around the matches between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who engaged in a brief military conflict in May.

The teams faced each other three times in the eight-team tournament with India prevailing on all three occasions. Defending champions India refused to shake hands with Pakistani players during the matches.

The ICC, cricket’s governing body, did not state the specific nature of the offenses in its statement on Tuesday.

ESPNCricinfo reported in September that Rauf had made numerous gestures to indicate aircraft going down, while Farhan celebrated by holding his bat like a gun.

India captain Yadav made a remark dedicating their win over Pakistan on September 14 to the Indian armed forces, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board to file a complaint against him to the ICC. Cricinfo reported on Tuesday that Bumrah was cited for a gesture he made during the final.

India, who won the final on September 28, refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council president and Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Rauf, who received four demerit points for two offenses, misses Pakistan’s One-Day International (ODI) matches against South Africa on Tuesday and Thursday. He was also fined 30 percent of his match fees in two games.

Yadav was also fined 30 percent of his match fees in one match. Bumrah and Farhan were given official warnings.