New Delhi: In a special gesture highlighting the warmth in Indo-Bangladesh ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday went to Indira Gandhi International Airport to receive his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
He expressed confidence that bilateral ties will be taken to a new level. Mr Modi set aside protocol to go to the airport, reportedly travelling through normal traffic without any route restrictions.
“Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on her State Visit to India,” he tweeted later.
“PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level,” he said in another tweet. Ms Hasina arrived in New Delhi at noon on a four-day visit.
She will hold wide-ranging talks with Mr Modi on Saturday. India is set to announce a line of credit of $500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies. A separate line of credit may also be announced. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj met Ms Hasina, in a meeting termed as a “courtesy call”.
“The visit is expected to further expand the cordial and cooperative relationship between India and Bangladesh and build on the strong ties of friendship and trust between the two leaders,” a joint statement issued by the two countries said earlier.
Ms Hasina will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee and meet Congress president leader Sonia Gandhi. She will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders on Monday. She will also join a function at Manekshaw Centre to honour Indian armed forces members who embraced martyrdom in Bangladesh’s War of Liberation in 1971. Diplomatic quarters of both sides expected that the reciprocal visit of the Bangladesh premier would take the Dhaka-New Delhi “historic relations” to a new height unveiling newer dimensions of cooperation in various sectors including trade and commerce, economy and connectivity. It will be Ms Hasina’s first bilateral visit to India in her current term as PM. Ramping up cooperation in security will be a major focus area of the talks.
Issues like combating terrorism, containing radicalism and enhancing security cooperation between the two countries are likely to figure prominently.
Liberation war affairs minister A.K.M. Mozammel Haque, water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, law minister Anisul Haque, foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali, the Premier’s economic affairs advisor Moshiour Rahman and state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam are accompanying Ms Hasina in the visit.
