Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay a “state visit” to India in April, seven years after her last visit in Jan 2010 and two years after Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh in June 2015.
Both Bangladesh and India on Tuesday jointly announced the date of the visit which would take place from Apr 7 to 10. The two leaders will hold official talks in New Delhi on Apr 8.
The prime minister’s visit was earlier discussed in December but postponed as both sides could not agree on dates.
Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar later in February met the prime minister in Dhaka after which Bangladesh announced that the visit would take place in April.
High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla in Dhaka on Monday after meeting Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said they were attaching “highest importance” to the visit.
Hasina is the head of government of “a neighbouring friendly country with whom we share the longest land boundary. And both land and maritime boundary issues between the two countries have been resolved within a very short time”, he said, explaining the importance of the visit.
The envoy also said that Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in an “exceptional” gesture invited Hasina to stay at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the visit.
He had also said that “everything is work in progress. We’ll have to see what is possible and what is not possible,” when asked whether there would be any breakthrough on Teesta water sharing deal.
Source: New Age
