Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker briefly interacts with EAM Jaishankar in Dhaka

Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday said a brief interaction took place between National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, calling it the “first significant high-level contact” between the two sides since the May conflict.

The two met briefly on the sidelines of the funeral of Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia in Dhaka.

During Speaker Sadiq’s visit to the Parliament of Bangladesh to inscribe remarks in the condolence book placed for the late Begum Khaleda Zia, in the presence of foreign ministers and delegates of different countries, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar met the Speaker and shook hands, the National Assembly Secretariat said in a statement.

“This interaction marked the first significant high-level contact initiated by the Indian side following the Pakistan-India conflict in May 2025,” it said.

The statement went on to say that “Pakistan has consistently emphasised dialogue, restraint, and cooperative measures, including proposals for peace talks and joint investigations” into the Pahalgam attack in which 26 people were killed.

“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,” Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s office posted on ‘X’ along with a photograph.