ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said today Pakistan would repatriate stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh when funds were available for the purpose, reports AFP.

The Rabita Alam Al-Islami, an organisation based in Saudi Arabia, is trying to raise funds for the repatriation, he said after he returned from a visit to Bangladesh.

The Pakistani premier attended a business summit in Dhaka with Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.

''As soon as sufficient money is collected arrangements would be made to bring the stranded Pakistanis back,'' the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency quoted Sharif as saying.

Sharif had discussed the issue with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina Wajed in Dhaka.

The stranded Pakistanis, known as Biharis, have been living in camps after the 1971 Bangladesh independence from Pakistan. They had originally migrated from Bihar in India after the 1947 partition of the Subcontinent.

In Dhaka, a delegation of a faction of Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee called on Finance Minister of Pakistan Shartaj Aziz today, according to UNB.

The 10-member delegation was led by the faction leader Ejaz Ahmed Siddiqui.

During the meeting, the Pakistan minister said his government has appealed to all the countries of the world to provide funds for repatriation of its stranded nationals from Bangladesh as early as possible.

The delegation demanded subsistence allowances from Pakistan government for the stranded people now living in various camps till their repatriation.

They said the camp dwellers should be provided with Pakistani passport without any delay.

They also demanded financial support from Pakistan for the reconstruction of camps and repair of the educational institutions.