The Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan was the first container ship to sail directly between the two countries in decades.

The first cargo ship in decades to sail directly from Pakistan to Bangladesh successfully unloaded its containers, port officials said on 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-metre (597-foot) long container ship – the Panama-flagged Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan – had sailed from Pakistan’s Karachi to Bangladesh’s Chittagong.

The route will “promote new opportunities for businesses on both sides”, Maroof wrote on Facebook.

In September, Bangladesh eased import restrictions on Pakistani goods, which previously required a mandatory physical inspection on arrival which resulted in long delays.

Archive link