Hasina to visit Japan, China

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to visit two Asian giants, Japan and China, beginning late this month.  
She is expected to pay a three-day visit to Japan from May 25 at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, according to diplomatic sources.
Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida handed over the invitation letter during his three-day visit to Bangladesh on March 21-23.
On March 30, the Governor of Yunnan province, Li Jiheng, handed over a letter from Chinese PM Li Keqiang to Hasina, inviting her to the second China-South Asia Exposition scheduled to be held in Kunming early next month.
Sources at the Japanese embassy in Bangladesh told The Daily Star that Sheikh Hasina had accepted the invitation and officials in Dhaka and Tokyo were working to finalise the details of the visit.
This will be Hasina's third official visit to Japan after 1997 and 2010.
Sources at the Chinese embassy said that the prime minister had accepted the invitation to visit China and the Beijing authorities were preparing for it.
A high official at the foreign ministry told The Daily Star last night that dates for the visit were yet to be finalised, with officials in Dhaka, Tokyo and Beijing working out the programme schedules.
Hasina's visit to Japan and China will strengthen the friendly relations Bangladesh enjoys with the two countries and her visits are expected to bring about a positive outcome in respect of funds for the long-cherished Padma bridge.
During the visits, it is expected that the construction of major infrastructure like Padma bridge, metro railway, deep-sea port and power plants and other issues will come up for discussion.
The Japanese government has already pledged a $1.18 billion loan package under the 35th Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in energy, natural gas, electricity and infrastructure development in city corporations.