Indian foreign secy arrives tomorrow
Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrives in Dhaka tomorrow to firm up deliverables ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's state visit to India likely in April.
Jaishankar, who will land in Dhaka from China around 1:45pm after attending the first India-China Strategic Dialogue today, will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and hold a bilateral meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart.
“This a very brief but significant visit by the Indian foreign secretary since he would come to finalise the dates for the prime minister's visit to India, and discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues and review the implementation of the 60-point joint statement issued during the Dhaka visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6-7 in 2015,” said a diplomatic source in Dhaka.
As per the programme schedule, Jaishankar will call on Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali tomorrow afternoon and then will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Later, he will hold a bilateral meeting with the Bangladesh foreign secretary.
The Indian foreign secretary will depart Dhaka on Friday morning for New Delhi by a Jet Airways aircraft.
Diplomatic sources said Jaishankar, during his call on with Hasina, is expected to brief her about the Indian government's plan on the visit.
“The Indian foreign secretary will convey Prime Minister Narendra Modi's message to her about New Delhi's readiness to welcome her,” said a diplomatic source, adding that this time she would be given a huge reception by the Indian government.
An Indian diplomat in Dhaka told The Daily Star that this would a very important visit for them and Jaishankar would convey the Bangladesh PM that she will be given a ceremonial welcome.
Earlier, Hasina's trip was deferred twice as both the countries reportedly failed to find a mutually agreeable date over the last couple of months.
The two countries are expected to ink at least two dozen agreements, including those for using Chittagong and Mongla ports by India.
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