Mamata due Thursday

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrives here on Thursday on a three-day visit to deepen ties with Bangladesh, a foreign ministry official said. 

Earlier in September 2011, Mamata had cancelled her trip with then Indian premier Manmohan Singh to Dhaka claiming that the Teesta water sharing deal would not protect the interest of West Bengal.

The Teesta pact between India and Bangladesh could not be inked then. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been giving much priority to Dhaka. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has already been here.

Modi during his maiden meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at New York Palace hotel said he was very much serious about resolving the pending issues like the Teesta water sharing treaty and the land boundary agreement with Bangladesh.

Trinamool Congress lawmakers Dev and Moon Moon Sen along with former party MP and famed singer Kabir Suman will accompany Mamata during her visit, The Times of India reported on Monday.

Singers Nachiketa and Indranil Sen, filmmaker Gautam Ghosh, poet Subodh Sarkar, and actor Arindam Sil will also be part of the chief minister's entourage.

According to officials in Dhaka, Mamata will meet Hasina and either Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali or State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and will discuss the Teesta issue.

She will be the chief guest at the Bhasha Shahid Divas programme on February 21, which has been recognised by UNESCO as the International Mother Language Day.

She will be visiting Nazrul Institute and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum. She might also visit the Jatiya Sangsad.

Businessmen Harsh Neotia, J P Choudhury and Sanjay Budhia will also be travelling with the CM and will accompany her to a meeting with Bangladesh business leaders.