Hasina to visit India in April

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will go on an official tour of India in April.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 23 Feb 2017, 12:22 PM
Updated : 23 Feb 2017, 04:53 PM

The statement was made on Thursday after Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met her at her office in Parliament.

"The prime minister will go to India in the first half of April," Deputy Press Secretary M Nazrul Islam told the media after the meeting.

During his Dhaka visit in 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Hasina over.

The visit was scheduled for December 2016 before it was postponed.

During India's State Minister for External Affairs MJ Akbar's Dhaka visit in December, PMO officials had hinted the visit might take place in February.

Akbar said the government and the people of India were eagerly looking forward to welcome her in New Delhi.

Hasina and Modi held a bilateral meeting in October last year on the sidelines of the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Meeting in India's Goa, but it was not a state visit.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali had described the visit as 'important and sensitive'.

Jaishankar came to Dhaka on Thursday on a two-day visit. He has travelled from China.

Jaishankar also said the government and the people of his country were looking forward to Hasina's visit.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, PM's Principal Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque and Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla were also present at the meeting.

Jaishankar said at the meeting that the visit of Hasina will strengthen the friendly ties between the two nations.

The Indian foreign secretary said his country will pay special attention to  Bangladesh's development to further cement the bilateral ties.

"Development projects will be taken on the basis of Bangladesh's demand," Nazrul quoted him as telling Hasina.

Hasina said the two countries have settled land border dispute and observed that all issues can be solved if there is good intention, her deputy press secretary said.

She emphasised connectivity and development in the meeting.

Nazrul said when the Indian foreign secretary raised the SAARC issue in the meeting, Hasina said, "We should not let it die down."

He said the prime minister stressed more discussions on the implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) motor vehicle agreement.

The High Commission of India in Dhaka later in a statement said the foreign secretary briefed the prime minister on recent developments in India-Bangladesh relations and the region.

He discussed “preparatory aspects” of the proposed visit.

Jaishankar later met Shahidul at Hotel Le Meridian.

The two foreign secretaries reviewed the areas of bilateral cooperation and were happy about the 'excellent implementation of decisions' taken during the visit of Modi.

“Both sides also took stock of decisions taken during the recent meetings of various bilateral mechanisms in the areas of Security & Border Management, Trade and Commerce, Power, Energy, Shipping, Railways etc.

“Both Foreign Secretaries also shared their perspectives on regional and international issues of mutual interest,” read the statement.