Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be on a two-day official visit to India starting Friday in a bid to further expand the already close ties between the two countries.
This will be the first official bilateral visit by a foreign leader since the new government was formed following the Indian Lok Sabha elections.
Hasina was among seven top leaders from India’s neighbouring countries and the Indian Ocean region who attended the inauguration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India’s Union Council of Ministers at the Presidential Palace on June 9.
Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Hasina are scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks on Saturday in which the two sides are expected to finalise a set of agreements that will provide for cooperation in several areas.
“At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay an official visit to India on June 21 and 22,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“This will be the first bilateral state visit since the government was formed in India following the 18th Lok Sabha elections,” the statement said.
The visiting leader will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi as well as call on President Draupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Hasina on Friday evening.
The talks between the two prime ministers will focus on taking bilateral ties to new heights, the people said.
The overall strategic relationship between India and Bangladesh has been on the upswing in the last few years.
Bangladesh is an important partner for India under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and cooperation spans areas such as security, trade, commerce, energy, connectivity, science and technology, defence and maritime issues.
Achievements in the connectivity sector include the opening of Maitri Setu Bridge over River Feni in Tripura and the Chilahati-Haldibari railway line.
Bangladesh is India’s largest development partner, with nearly a quarter of the Indian government’s commitments under the Line of Credit going to the country.
Bangladesh is India’s largest trading partner in South Asia and India is Bangladesh’s second largest trading partner in Asia.
India is Bangladesh’s largest export destination in Asia, and Bangladeshi exports to India are expected to be around US$2 billion in 2022-23.
Total bilateral trade for 2022-23 is reported to be US$ 15.9 billion.
