Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, has claimed that an apology for the 1971 genocide and three other unresolved issues were already settled twice.

He made the remark on Sunday afternoon while responding to journalists’ questions after a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser, Md Touhid Hossain, at Hotel Sonargaon in Dhaka.

When asked whether the unresolved issues were discussed during the meeting, Ishaq Dar said: “The matter was resolved for the first time in 1974. The documents from that period hold historic significance for both countries. Later, General Pervez Musharraf publicly resolved the issue during his visit to Bangladesh in the early 2000s. So, it has been settled twice.”

Bangladesh, however, continues to consider several issues as significant, including an unconditional apology for the 1971 genocide, war reparations, repatriation of stranded Pakistani citizens, division of joint assets, and recovery of foreign aid provided during the period of undivided Pakistan in 1970. Diplomatic sources said these issues were raised by Bangladesh during the talks.