ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday expressed solidarity with the people of Bangladesh and hoped that the country would soon return to normalcy.

A student-led protest movement over quotas in government jobs in Bangladesh forced Sheikh Hasina to resign as prime minister and flee to India.

As the army took charge following Hasina’s ouster and the death toll in the violence, in which temples were also attacked, rose to 440, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday and appointed 84-year-old Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of an upcoming interim government.

“The Government and people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh, sincerely hoping for a peaceful and swift return to normalcy,” the Foreign Office said in a brief statement in its first reaction to the recent political change in Bangladesh.

It further stated that the “resilient spirit and unity of the Bangladeshi people will lead them towards a harmonious future”.

Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971. Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was instrumental in the creation of Bangladesh with India's help.