Indian Foreign Secretary Jaishankar leaves Dhaka after inviting PM

Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has left Dhaka after inviting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for a “state visit” in April.

He also renewed his government’s support to “a peaceful, stable and prosperous” Bangladesh.

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla and senior officials of the South Asia desk at the Bangladesh foreign ministry saw him off at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 10:15am when he left for Delhi, a senior official told bdnews24.com.

Earlier on his arrival on Thursday, he met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and conveyed invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to her for a “state visit” to India in April, the foreign ministry said. The visit was earlier postponed in December.

The prime minister appreciated India’s cooperation in important sectors including power and energy, capacity building and development partnership.

He held a bilateral discussion with his counterpart Md Shahidul Haque, who also hosted a dinner for him at Hotel Le Meridian.

During the meeting, the two foreign secretaries discussed “the agenda and programme” of the forthcoming visit of the prime minister.

They also reviewed a whole range of issues of mutual interest.

They expressed “satisfaction” at the progress of existing cooperation between the two countries and agreed to “deepen the cooperation across some new and innovative areas”.

The foreign ministry said the visit was in “keeping with the practice of close consultations and exchanges between the two friendly neighbouring countries”.