'Surprising, well-prepared and carefully planned': How Pakistan is overselling Jaishankar-Sadiq Dhaka handshake

(FILES) Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Sardar Ayaz Sadiq before the funeral prayers of Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia, in Dhaka on December 31, 2025.

Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq called a brief handshake with India’s S Jaishankar in Dhaka “well-prepared,” but India dismissed it as a routine courtesy, stressing no shift in ties or talks amid ongoing diplomatic tensions.

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Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has unwittingly exposed Islamabad’s desperation for relevance by publicly hyping what India has firmly described as a routine, meaningless exchange. Speaking to Geo News, Sadiq described his brief handshake with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Dhaka as “surprising” and “well-prepared and carefully planned,” projecting it as a moment of diplomatic significance despite New Delhi’s categorical dismissal of any such interpretation.

The interaction took place in Dhaka on the sidelines of the last rites of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and marked the first visible contact between senior Indian and Pakistani representatives since the May 2025 conflict. Yet it was Pakistan, not India, that rushed to inflate the optics.

Briefing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after returning from Bangladesh, Sadiq claimed that Jaishankar personally approached him, introduced himself, and shook his hand. “He knew exactly what he was doing and that it would be covered by the media,” Sadiq later told Geo News, portraying the moment as calculated and deliberate. He even described Jaishankar as a shrewd politician who understood the “significance and optics” of the exchange.

The contrast with India’s version could not be sharper. Government sources in New Delhi stressed that there was “nothing to read into” the brief encounter. Officials underlined that it did not constitute any bilateral engagement, outreach, or dialogue. The exchange, they said, was limited strictly to protocol and courtesy at a multilateral event attended by several international dignitaries.

“This was not part of any bilateral engagement. There was no formal meeting, discussion or agenda scheduled or held between the two sides,” News18 quoted sources as saying. They also made it clear that Dhaka was merely a third-country venue for the funeral and had no role whatsoever as a facilitator or mediator.

India further reiterated that there has been no shift in its position on Pakistan. Normalisation of ties, officials said, remains contingent on an environment free of cross-border terrorism. The brief handshake does not indicate talks, thaw, or engagement of any kind.

Pakistan’s eagerness to portray a fleeting handshake as a breakthrough comes against the backdrop of its deep diplomatic isolation following the May 2025 conflict, triggered by the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists. India responded with military action before a ceasefire was brokered on May 10.

That Islamabad is now marketing a seconds-long protocol exchange as “surprising” and “carefully planned” says more about Pakistan’s hunger for optics than about any change in India’s posture.