Khaleda reaches Delhi

Sumon Mahmud Chief Political Correspondent New Delhi, Oct 28 (bdnews24.com)–Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia reached New Delhi on Sunday noon on a seven-day official visit that her party BNP considers 'very significant' and the host India says 'is part of their engagement with Bangladesh's democratic and multiparty polity'. A Jet Airways, carrying the BNP Chairperson and her entourage members, landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 12.15pm (Bangladesh time). Top officials of the Indian External Affairs Ministry and Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi Mahbub Hasan Saleh and other High Commission officials received Khaleda at the airport. Her Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan said that after the formalities at the airport, the BNP chief was taken to Hotel Taj Palace where she would be staying during her visit. Khan said that Khaleda's scheduled meeting with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday was cancelled due to the Indian Cabinet reshuffle. "But her scheduled meeting with the Leader of the Opposition in Indian Parliament Sushma Swaraj will take place," he said. A nine-member BNP delegation is accompanying Khaleda during the visit. The delegation includes Standing Committee Member Tariqul Islam, her Advisors Riaz Rahman, Sabih Uddin Ahmed, Vice Chairman Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, former MPs Khaleda Rabbani, Mosaddek Ali Falu, her Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan, Private Secretary Saleh Ahmed and photographer Nuru Uddin Ahmed. During her visit to New Delhi, Khaleda is likely to meet Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ruling Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. The former Prime Minister is also scheduled to visit Ajmer Sharif in Indian state of Rajasthan to offer prayers at the shrine of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. It is Khaleda's first official visit as the Leader of the Opposition as she made the last visit to India in 2006 when she was the Prime Minister. Her visit to India came a year before the next parliamentary elections and at a time when the ties between the Congress-led government in New Delhi and the Awami League-led government in Dhaka seem to be losing momentum on a number of issues including water sharing and land boundary disputes, media reports say. Earlier, a Jet Airways flight left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with Khaleda and her entourage on board at 9:20am Sunday, a week after her return from China. She is likely to return on Nov 3. bdnews24.com/sm/al/skb/1614h