Hasina to be accorded ceremonial guard of honour during her state visit to India

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally receive Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her arrival at the airport on September 5 and she will be accorded a ceremonial guard of honour, official sources said.

Later, the Bangladesh premier will pay homage at Rajghat in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, said an official press release here this evening.

Hasina will pay a three-day state visit to India from September 5-8. She would lead a high level delegation, which includes a number of ministers, advisers and senior officials of the government.

Besides, representatives from business bodies of Bangladesh would also accompany the Bangladesh Prime Minister during her India visit.

Giving details, sources said PM Sheikh Hasina will pay call on President of India Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar. She will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the historic Hyderabad House.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also scheduled to attend a state lunch to be hosted by her Indian counterpart PM Modi. External Affairs Minister and some other dignitaries are expected to pay courtesy call on PM Hasina during her stay in New Delhi.

A number of Agreements and MOUs are expected to be signed along with attending a number of business events being organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) during the state visit, the release added.

Later on, she is expected to award Mujib Scholarship, an initiative of the government of Bangladesh, for the descendants of 200 Indian armed forces personnel, who were martyred and critically injured during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

The premier is scheduled to return to Dhaka on September 8.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is paying this State Visit to India after a long interval of three years since she last visited in October, 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

The visit is significant for both Bangladesh and India as it will open new windows of cooperation between the two friendly countries, sources said.

Meanwhile, Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) formally announced the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming India visit.

“I am happy to announce the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India”. It will be a state visit from September 5-8 this year,” said MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi here this evening.

Bagchi said in recent years, Bangladesh and India have sustained high level of engagement including the highest level of visits between the two countries.

“The forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will further strengthen the multifaceted relationship between the two countries based on historical and cultural ties and mutual trust and understanding,” he added.

However, diplomatic, business and journalist fraternities see the PM Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming India visit as a very crucial one in the perspective of present world scenario.

Taking to BSS, they said the visit will yield a very positive outcome and usher a new era of bilateral and regional cooperation in the wake of present global geo-political developments. The visit will also re-invigorate India’s investment in Bangladesh, they added. (BSS)