Jaishankar due today
PBC News: Indian External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrives in Dhaka today (Thursday) on an official visit to Bangladesh to hand over the invitation of their Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit New Delhi.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit has been on the cards, particularly after Narendra Modi visited Dhaka on March 26-27 last year to join the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh’s independence, the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 50th years of establishment of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations.
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind also paid a state visit to Bangladesh on December 15-17 at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid to attend the 50th Victory Day celebrations.
It is now expected that the Bangladesh Prime Minister will travel to New Delhi sometime soon after the month of Ramadan or in the second half of the year, diplomatic sources said.
Sheikh Hasina last visited New Delhi on October 3-6 in 2019 to attend the Indian Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Earlier on Monday, India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told the media in New Delhi that Jaishankar would hand over the invitation letter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India.
The Indian External Affairs Minister is scheduled to arrive at Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) Bangabandhu Base in Kurmitola in the capital by an Indian Air force special flight at 2:10pm, official sources said.
Jaishankar is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban at 4:00pm.
Apart from calling on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Jaishankar will hold bilateral discussion with his Bangladesh counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen.
Foreign Minister Momen will also host an Iftar followed by dinner at the academy in honour of Jaishankar.
“The forthcoming visit of the External Affairs Minister to Bangladesh may be seen in the context of frequent bilateral high-level visits and exchanges particularly as both sides commemorate 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties,” the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The last visit by the Indian External Affairs Minister to Bangladesh was in March 2021.
The Foreign Ministry officials said the date of the 7th Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting, which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi, will be fixed during the visit of Jaishankar.
Officials said Jaishankar’s visit will also be an opportunity for the two sides to review several high-profile projects being implemented as part of the Indian development cooperation
