Islamabad, Pakistan – On December 31, the final day of 2025, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar did what India’s men, women’s and Under-19 cricket teams had only recently refused to do.He shook hands with a Pakistani representative in public.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listJaishankar and Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, were among a gathering of regional leaders that had descended in Dhaka earlier this week to attend former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s funeral ceremony.With Sadiq present in a waiting room at Bangladesh’s parliament in Dhaka, Jaishankar walked over and shook his hand in the presence of diplomats from several South Asian countries.“He walked up to me and said hello, at which I stood up, and he introduced himself and shook hands with a smile. As I was about to introduce myself, he said, ‘Excellency, I recognise who you are and no need to introduce yourself’,” Sadiq, a veteran politician from Pakistan’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), recounted the interaction to a private news channel on Wednesday night.Once Jaishankar entered the room, Sadiq said, the Indian minister first met delegations from Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives before approaching him.“He knew what he was doing. He realised the presence of other people in the room, but he had a smile on his face, and he was well aware,” the Pakistani politician added.Images of the handshake were shared by Sadiq’s office and w …
