Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir and Bangladeshi officer Lieutenant General Kamrul Hasan sat between them on a table with the national flags of their respective countries.
It was the culmination of Hassan's trip to the Pakistani capital, where he also met with other senior Pakistani military officials. Commenting on Tuesday's meeting between Munir and Hassan, Pakistan's military media wing described the two countries as "brotherly countries."
That's not how Dhaka and Islamabad viewed their relationship for most of the 54 years since Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan and won independence after one of the bloodiest wars of the 20th century.
Tensions in relations between the two countries have further increased during the nearly 16 years of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's rule. Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August after massive protests and forced to flee to neighboring India, which supports her government.
But since Hasina's departure, there has been a marked rekindling of ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh, with anti-India sentiment prevalent in both countries' politics, going beyond the historical animosity between Islamabad and Dhaka.
Pakistan's military said Munir and Hassan "underlined the importance of strengthening military ties and reiterated their commitment to safeguarding this partnership from any external interference". Their meeting was one in a series of high-level exchanges between the two countries.
Last month, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Bangladeshi head of interim government Mohammad Yunus at an international summit in Cairo, Egypt, after the two met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected to visit Bangladesh next month, the first such visit since 2012, prompting analysts to suggest that the geopolitical landscape in South Asia may be changing.
The roots of the historical animosity between Islamabad and Dhaka lie in the 1971 war to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan. The Pakistani army and its allied militias fighting Bangladeshi insurgents have massacred hundreds of thousands of people, according to independent estimates. These estimates indicate that at least 200,000 women were raped.
With the support of the Indian Army, Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and his Awami League party led Bangladesh to independence. He became the country's founding president and earned himself the title "Father of the Founding."
Although Pakistan accepted Bangladesh's independence in 1974 under a tripartite agreement with India, unresolved issues between Islamabad and Dhaka remain. These include Pakistan's lack of formal apology for its atrocities, the repatriation of Urdu-speaking people from Bangladesh who claim to be Pakistani, and the pre-1971 division of assets between the two countries.
During his meeting with Sharif in Cairo, Yunus urged Pakistan to resolve long-standing issues.
"These problems have come up again and again. Let us solve these problems once and for all for future generations," Yunus told Sharif, Bangladesh's state news agency reported.
Sharif responded that he would look into "outstanding issues," the agency reported.
Former Pakistan envoy to Bangladesh Ashraf Qureshi told Al Jazeera that tensions between India and Bangladesh due to New Delhi's long-standing support for Hasina's "authoritarian" government may prompt the new government in Dhaka to recalibrate its actions.
Last month, Yunus' interim government asked New Delhi to extradite Hasina through "judicial proceedings." Hasina is accused of overseeing a range of human rights abuses during her time in power, including a crackdown on protesters in the weeks before her ouster. The Indian government has yet to respond to the request.
India has also repeatedly expressed concern about the fate of Bangladesh's Hindus. Hindus account for about 8% of Bangladesh's 170 million population and have always been staunch supporters of the Awami League. New Delhi says they are being persecuted.
Bangladeshi authorities strongly denied the allegation, adding that false information in Indian media had exacerbated tensions between the neighbours.
"Of course, if you were Bangladesh, you would weigh your options, given the state of their relations with India, and Pakistan also comes into consideration, resulting in better relations than before," Qureshi said.
Qureshi said India is also facing Hasina's dilemma. "India cannot just hand over Hasina because that would show that India is happy to abandon anyone who supports them," he said.
But Walter Ladwig, a senior lecturer at King's College London, warned against exaggerating the importance of recent diplomatic and military exchanges between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"I think this is a noteworthy event given the development of bilateral relations over the past 15 years, but at the same time I would be careful not to read too much into it. There are still historical tensions and divergent interests between the two countries," Ladwi said Ge told Al Jazeera.
Qureshi also warned that the geographical realities of the region meant Bangladesh could not adopt an anti-India stance.
"They have a long border with them. Their water source comes from India. At best they may take a slightly independent policy stance compared to the days of Sheikh Hasina, but they will not take an anti-India stance," he said.
Ladwig agreed.
"A range of political actors within Bangladesh are forthright in recognizing geographical and economic realities. These trends are worthy of attention, but they need to be accompanied by a series of significant policy changes before we can begin to reassess regional geopolitics," he said.
Bangladesh's growing ties with Pakistan also come amid broader geopolitical moves reshaping South Asia, including India's dramatic engagement with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers in recent months.
Although New Delhi has yet to formally recognize the Taliban government, senior Indian officials have recently met with their Afghan counterparts. Last week, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Afghanistan's acting foreign minister Aamir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai, in the most high-profile public contact between New Delhi and the Taliban.
India's diplomatic engagement with the Taliban has angered Pakistan, which has backed the militant group for decades and provided sanctuary to its leaders as they fought U.S.-led forces.
But Islamabad's influence over the Taliban has been severely undermined by a surge in deadly attacks in Pakistan last year, many of which were blamed on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, a group with ideological close ties to Afghanistan. Taliban.
Pakistan claims Taliban militants are sheltered and trained in Afghanistan, a charge the Taliban denies. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul came to a head last month when the two countries traded airstrikes.
Burhanur Islam, another former Pakistani diplomat, said improved relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh could be seen as a "new beginning" after Hasina's ouster.
"Maybe Bangladesh is seeking military support and security umbrella from Pakistan. I hope both countries are now moving in the right direction and their military leadership wants to improve relations with Pakistan," Islam told Al Jazeera.
Ladwig believes Bangladesh's economy has been growing steadily despite a massive uprising last summer that left it in trouble - a factor that could push Islamabad toward better relations.
"Pakistan needs all the economic partners it can get and this is another impetus for Islamabad's efforts to strengthen ties," he said.
With a growth rate of 6% since 2021, Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia. Pakistan, on the other hand, lags significantly behind, with growth last year of just 2.5%.
The trade volume between the two countries remains unbalanced. According to official data, Pakistan's exports to Bangladesh were $661 million and imports were $57 million. Last year, bilateral trade volume exceeded US$700 million.
Ladwig believes that the world of trade may undergo major changes in the coming days.
"After a period when there were no direct flights between the two capitals, minimal diplomatic contacts and people having difficulty obtaining visas, any easing will be noteworthy," he said.
"I think the Pakistani government senses an opportunity and an opportunity to improve relations."