Paschimbanga chief minister Mamata Banerjee arrived Dhaka on Thursday night on a three-day visit, which both the neighbours view as a visit to strengthen ties between the two countries.
The state minister for foreign affairs, M Shahriar Alam, and Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran received Mamata at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport upon her arrival in an Air India flight.
Later, she was taken to Sonargaon Hotel in the city where she would be staying.
Before leaving Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Mamata said this was a very emotional moment for her as she is visiting Bangladesh to attend the ‘Bhasha Dibas’ event on February 21.
‘This is a very emotional moment for me… Some journeys are more emotional. This is very special,’ she tweeted hours before her departure from India narrating beauty of Bangla through a lyric of a Bangla song.
Mamata mentioned that she last visited Bangladesh 17 years ago and this is her first visit after new the government came to power in Paschimbanga in May 2011.
‘I am looking forward to meeting Sheikh Hasina and the people of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh share a special friendship and a special bond,’ she said.
Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj talked to Mamata over phone and conveyed greetings.
The visit raised hopes in Bangladesh that it would create a ‘supportive environment’ for settling pending issues with New Delhi apart from deepening soul-ties with Kolkata.
‘We hope the visit will deepen Bangladesh’s soul-ties with the West Bengal. We also expect it’ll create supportive environment in settling unresolved issues between Dhaka and Delhi,’ said state minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam.
Country’s political observers consider her visit as ‘course-correction’ exercise as earlier in September 2011, Mamata had cancelled her visit to Dhaka with then prime minister Manmohan Singh, as she had claimed that Teesta water sharing would not protect the interest of Pashcimbanga.
Referring to feedback got from the Indian side, the government said the ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement was a matter of time while the Indian central government is working to deliver its commitment regarding signing of Teesta Water sharing pact with Bangladesh.
During her stay in Dhaka, Mamata would meet the president, Abdul Hamid, at Bangababan at 4:00pm on Friday while she would have a meeting with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, at Ganabhaban on Saturday apart from attending a ‘High Tea’ to be hosted by foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali.
She would attend the ‘Amar Ekushey Ujjyapan’ function at Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the martyrs of the Language Movement, and visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum during his three-day visit.
Mamata along with a 39-member delegation, including 18 officials, would be here at the invitation of the foreign minister.
The Paschimbanga chief minister would be accompanied by its minister of urban development Firhad Hakim, minister of tourism Bratya Basu, members of parliament Deepak Adhikari and Moonmoon Sen, chief secretary Sanjay Mitra and other senior officials.
Non-official members of her delegation are Harsh Neotia, Shrikant Mohta, Anindya Jana, Indranil Sen, Shibaji Panja, Biswa Majumdar, Suman Chattapaddhay, Janab Asabul, Udit Prasanna Mukherji, Ashok Majumdar, Kingsuk Pramanik, Dipankar Nandy, Pushan Gupta, Durbar Ganguly, Soumya Bandyopadhyay, Pallavi Ghosh, Ujjal Sinha, Rajat Roychowdhury, Joydeb Jana, Agni Roy and Devdeep Purohit.
Her entourage also includes eminent business and media personalities.
The Chief Minister’s other engagements include an address to a Business Meet to be organised by the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) in association with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Indian Chambers of Commerce, Kolkata, as well as interactions with cultural personalities of both India and Bangladesh.
She would also attend a reception to be hosted in her honour by the high commissioner of India.
Source: New Age
She will not meet Khaleda Zia, an outcast and a terrorist according to Sheikh Hasina. Did anyone notice that she does not have one Muslim Paschim Bangalee or a Muslim in her entourage. What does that tell us??? Is Hasina’s didi made this sacrifice to save her at a critical moment.