Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee arrives in Dhaka

India’s former president Pranab Mukherjee has arrived in Dhaka on a private tour to attend an international literary gathering and meet the president and the prime minister.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 Jan 2018, 11:48 AM
Updated : 14 Jan 2018, 12:16 PM

He will also receive the Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Chittagong.

He arrived at around 4.30pm by a Jet airways flight from New Delhi. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali received him at the airport, one of his aides told bdnews24.com.

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla was also present.

Mukherjee, a veteran Congress leader, was the first Bengali president of India.

Bangladesh also awarded him with the ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award’ for his role during the 1971 War of Independence.

He will start his official events on Monday by paying respect to Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Museum in Dhanmondi.

After that, he will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who will also host lunch in his honour.

He will attend the ‘Antorjatik Bangla Sahitya Sammilan’ at Bangla Academy in the afternoon.

On Tuesday, he will go to Chittagong where apart from his event at the University of Chittagong, he will also go to Raozan to visit his ancestral homes. He will stay Tuesday night in Chittagong.

On Wednesday, he will meet President Md Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban. He will leave Dhaka on Thursday morning.