Indian FM due tomorrow

India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will arrive in Dhaka tomorrow on a two-day visit to attend the second meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) where Dhaka and New Delhi will discuss a host of important issues, including signing of the Teesta water sharing agreement, ratification of the land boundary agreement, and border killing.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Salman Khurshid, who will co-chair the JCC meeting, will review the progress in bilateral cooperation in all areas--trade, connectivity, power, water resources, security, border management, infrastructure, people to people contacts, culture, environment and education.
The external affairs minister will also do the groundwork for Indian President Pranab Mukharjee's March 3-5 visit to Bangladesh. During his stay, Khurshid is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and meet the home minister and the water resources minister.
The JCC was established under the Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development signed by the two prime ministers on September 6, 2011. The commission reviews progress in various areas of relationship, identifies thrust areas, and gives directions for further growth of bilateral partnership.
The first meeting of the commission was held in New Delhi on May 7, 2012.
The February 16-17 visit will be Khurshids's first visit to Bangladesh since he took over as the external affairs minister on October 28 last year. He had earlier visited Bangladesh in May 2012 as the minister for law and justice and minority affairs at the joint celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the “Bidrohi” by Kazi Nazrul Islam.