Work and pleasure both during Bangladesh visit this time, says Pranab Mukherjee

Former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee says his Bangladesh visit this time is both work and pleasure.

Speaking before a select audience on Sunday at the Indian High Commission, he used the Bangla idiom, “Roth Dekhar Shathe Kola Becha”, which roughly translates to getting entertained and making money at the same time, to sum up his visit.

Dubbed as the 'friend of Bangladesh', Pranab is currently on a five-day visit when he will be conferred D Lit or Doctor of Letters by the Chittagong University.

He has already met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and among other engagements will be meeting President Abdul Hamid and visiting Chittagong’s Raozan, the birthplace of Masterda Surya Sen who is famous for leading the raid on Chittagong armoury during the British rule in 1930.

He met Hasina on Monday and attended a luncheon at the Ganabhaban. Earlier in the morning, he placed a wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi.

His meeting with President Hamid is scheduled for Wednesday before his departure from Dhaka on Thursday.

Many political pundits are interpreting his visit in the year of election as 'significant'.

Pranab, whose presidential term ended in July last year, arrived in the capital on Sunday afternoon.

The Indian High Commission hosted a dinner in his honour in the evening attended by members of almost the entire Hasina cabinet along with journalists and members from the civil society.

In his brief speech, Pranab made it clear to the audience about his relations with Bangladesh.

He said his first foreign visit as the Indian president brought him to Bangladesh, if the country, where his wife was born, is “at all a foreign country".

In March 2013, he came to Bangladesh with his late wife Subhra, and travelled to the southwestern district of Narail, his in-law’s hometown.

During that visit, Bangladesh conferred on him the ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award’ for his role during the 1971 War of Independence.

The Indian Congress leader from West Bengal had played a significant role in Indian politics and in garnering support for Bangladesh's independence movement.

It was abundantly clear from his speech on Sunday that his ties with Bangladesh are ‘in tact’, when he said he ‘personally knew’ the members of the audience.

Speaking in Bangla, he said the visit this time will be both work and pleasure.

After the short speeches and music, the cabinet members and other guests lined up to pose for a photograph with the first Bengali president of India.

On Monday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith hosted a dinner for Pranab, who had also served as India's finance minister.