PM Hasina accorded warm welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi

She was given a guard of honour during the ceremonial reception

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has received a formal welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian presidential palace, in New Delhi from her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The Indian prime minister greeted Hasina at the venue at 9am on Saturday.

The Bangladesh premier was also given a red-carpet reception.

A horse-mounted regiment of the President's Guards escorted her motorcade from the Rashtrapati Bhavan gate to the forecourt.

Later, Hasina was given a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent drawn from the three services of the Indian Armed Forces. The national anthems of the two countries were played at that time.

The Bangladesh premier then inspected the guard and received a salute.

The Indian prime minister introduced his cabinet colleagues to Hasina at the presentation line.

Hasina also introduced her entourage members to Modi.

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, Ambassador-at-large Mohammad Ziauddin, Prime Minister's Adviser on Private Industry and Investment Salman F Rahman, State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu, Principal Secretary M Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Md Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, Power Division Secretary Md Habibur Rahman, Bangladesh Satellite Company Ltd Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood, Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Mizanur Rahman Shameem, Railways Secretary Md Humayun Kabir, ERD Secretary Md Shariar Kader Siddiky, Press Secretary M Nayeemul Islam Khan, Speech Writer M Nazrul Islam, Awami League Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah and other members of her entourage were present.

The Bangladesh premier later went to Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Father of the Indian Nation Mahatma Gandhi.

HASINA’S BUSY SATURDAY

From Raj Ghat, Hasina went to Hyderabad House to hold a one-to-one meeting with Modi.

Discussions will also take place there at the representative level. There will be a state banquet in her honour.

In the afternoon, she will visit the secretariat office of Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar before returning to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President Droupadi Murmu.

On the first day of her two-day bilateral state visit on Friday, Hasina arrived at Palam Airport in the Indian capital in the afternoon by a special Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight.

Following a reception at the airport, the premier travelled to hotel Taj Palace where she is staying during the visit.

The visit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart marks her first bilateral state tour after both leaders were re-elected in recent parliamentary polls.

The prime ministers of Bangladesh and India could discuss some of the longstanding disputes, a spokesman for Hasina said.

“We are prepared to discuss the unresolved issues,” Press Secretary Nayeemul had previously told bdnews24.com.

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar paid a courtesy call on Hasina at her hotel on the first day.

She called for strengthening efforts to beat challenges on the path of economic development activities through a dialogue during the meeting.

Jaishankar said the relationship between Bangladesh and India has reached such heights in the past 10 years that this can now be taken to a new chapter.

Hasina also met an Indian business delegation on the same day and urged them to invest in Bangladesh.

The prime minister will depart for Dhaka aboard a special Biman flight at 6pm local time.