Indian foreign secretary’s ‘SAARC Yatra’ begins Sunday

New Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will begin his ‘SAARC Yatra’ from Sunday by first landing in Bhutan.

He will then come to Bangladesh on Monday and leave for Pakistan on Tuesday before concluding the first leg of his eight-country tour with Afghanistan on Wednesday.
 
Schedules of his visit to other SAARC countries have not been finalised yet, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
 
He will arrive in Dhaka at around 9:30am on Monday in his special plane, sources in the foreign ministry told bdnews24.com.
 
He will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her advisers, and foreign minister, among others, during his short stay.
 
Akbaruddin had earlier said Jaishankar's "SAARC Yatra" has been undertaken at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 
Modi has prioritised India's neighbourhood policy since taking over as Prime Minister last year. He had invited all SAARC leaders to his swearing-in ceremony.
 
In January, he brought in Jaishankar to replace Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh.
 
When he called up SAARC leaders in February just before the beginning of the ICC Cricket World Cup, Modi also informed that he would send his new foreign secretary on a SAARC Yatra (visit) soon to further strengthen bilateral ties.
 
Sources in India’s external affairs ministry earlier told bdnews24.com that Jaishankar had been asked by Modi to convey to the Bangladesh government India’s intention to clear the two contentious issues soon.
 
Dhaka has been demanding the passage of the bill in India’s Parliament on the swap of enclaves as well pitching for an equitable share of the Teesta river water.
 
Dhaka is expecting that the LBA will be ratified during the ongoing session of the India’s Parliament. 
 
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was opposing the Teesta deal, in her Feb 19-21 Dhaka visit promised to act as a “bridge” between Dhaka and Delhi to conclude it.