Modi confirms trip to Dhaka

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confirmed his visit to Bangladesh to attend the "Mujib Borsho" celebration on March 17 and hold a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The formal announcement, by Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, was made at the weekly media briefing yesterday, three days after Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla's two-day visit to Dhaka.

Hasina invited Modi to attend the launch of the birth centenary celebrations of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during her visit to Delhi in October last year.

"Our Prime Minister has accepted the invite and he will undertake the visit to Bangladesh," Kumar said.

He said, "We will share more details [of the Indian PM's visit] in due course."

There have been speculations on Modi's visit on the backdrop of Delhi's violence over protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Some leftist and Islamic political parties had demanded that the government cancels Modi's visit.

However, the government has firmly said that India had made major contributions to the liberation war of Bangladesh and is the biggest friend of Bangladesh. It said that Modi's visit to the birth centennial of Bangabandhu is a must, and that the government will pay him the highest honour.

Meanwhile, the Indian PM's visit to Brussels in Belgium, for the India-European Union Summit has been postponed due to the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus, Kumar said. 

The health authorities of India and Belgium suggested that travelling must not take place at present, he said, adding, "So, it has been decided that the summit will be rescheduled on a mutually convenient date."