New Indian envoy due next week

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das left for Delhi yesterday, more than one and a half years of her tenure here, while the new Indian envoy is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka next week. 

"She left in the afternoon," an official at the Indian High Commission told this correspondent yesterday.

Back in Delhi, Riva will join the post of Secretary (east) at the Ministry of External Affairs.

"Bangladesh is a special place for us. The hospitality that we get here … we don't get it anywhere in the world," she told journalists at a farewell programme with them recently. 

"I will also miss Bangladesh," Riva said.

She had farewell calls on the prime minister, the foreign minister, other ministers and businesses leaders in the last weeks.

Riva was scheduled to leave for Delhi in the middle of the year, but had to stay due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the sixth Joint Consultative Commission meeting held on September 29 where Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar led the respective delegations.

The tenure of Riva in Bangladesh saw a lot of developments, especially in terms of connectivity and infrastructure, including rail, road, power, waterways etc. Bangladesh's export to India too reached $1 billion a year.

The irritants that, however, remain include rising number of border killings, not signing of the water-sharing deals of the Teesta and other common rivers.

Meanwhile, senior diplomat Vikram Doraiswami will be arriving in Dhaka next week, possibly on October 5, and take charge of Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, an official concerned said.

He is currently serving as additional secretary in-charge of international organisations and summits at India's Ministry of External Affairs.

Doraiswami, a 1992 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service, was earlier India's ambassador to South Korea and also joint secretary of the Americas division in the external affairs ministry from 2012 till 2014.

The change happens at a time when Bangladesh is preparing for the celebrations of golden jubilee of its independence and also the 50th anniversary of India-Bangladesh diplomatic relationship next year.

Bangladesh and India have chalked out scores of joint programmes both in Bangladesh, India and in some other countries to celebrate the occasions.