All set for PM’s India visit

Hasina reaches Delhi tomorrow, meets Mamata on Saturday

Dhaka and New Delhi are now hectically engaged with each other to complete the last-minute preparations for the state visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that begins tomorrow.
And, as part of the preparations to make the Bangladesh head of the government’s visit a success, which is taking place after seven years, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, the top diplomat of the country, and Director General of South Asia wing of the foreign ministry arrived in the Indian capital yesterday noon. They have already met with the Bangladesh High Commissioner in Delhi Syed Muazzem Ali and other officials.
It has been learnt that the foreign secretary and the director general will have engagements with their Indian counterparts before the arrival of Sheikh Hasina to fine-tune all the details of the visit and more than 30 bilateral instruments due to be signed during the trip.“The stage is all set. All we are doing now is fine-tuning so that everything goes as planned,” said a diplomat.
“This visit is very important for both the countries. This will further strengthen the ties between the two next door neighbours for the betterment of the two peoples,” High Commissioner Ali told reporters who flew to Delhi to cover the prime minister’s visit. On its part, according to diplomatic sources, India has made all the arrangements to welcome the prime minister. As earlier announced, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, in a separate letter, has invited Hasina to stay at the Rastrapati Bhaban (Presidential Palace) during her stay in India.
This is, according to the diplomats from both the countries, is a rare gesture from the Indian head of state.
A former senior diplomat informed that Hasina’s father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the last Bangladeshi leader who was given this extraordinary honour. April 8 (Saturday) is the highlight of the four-day visit when both Hasina and her Indian counterpart will hold official talks at the Hyderabad House covering all the aspects of the bilateral relationship.
“In terms of hospitality, undoubtedly this visit is different from PM’s earlier visit in January 2010,” said a diplomat.
According to different government sources, this visit might be much better in terms of hospitality and other gestures.
But, said a source, “I would have been very happy if I could tell you that in terms of substance and fulfilment of the people’s aspiration this visit is going to be better than seven years ago.”
This visit will be described as a success only if there is a clear development with regards to Bangladesh’s pending issues like Teesta water sharing agreement, basin-wise management of common rivers, a complete end to the killing of Bangladeshis by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the border, and India’s positive attitude towards proposed Ganges barrage, they said.
“Let’s see how things go. But to be honest, apart from the Ganges barrage issue, I don’t see any positive development with regards to the issues that matter to Bangladesh,” said another source.
When asked to describe in a sentence about the main objective of the visit, a senior official told The Independent, “To fulfil diplomatic obligation and strengthen the relationship.”
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to meet Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Saturday, adds PTI from New Delhi.
Mamata, who will arrive in Delhi on Friday, is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss several issues including central funds to her state and the contentious Teesta water-sharing issue, sources said.
Bangladesh PM will arrive in India  on Friday on a four-day visit during which she will have a series of meetings on various issues including on enhancing rail, road and water connectivity.
The sources said Mamatais expected to meet Modi in the banquet.

 

 

All set for PMs India visit

Hasina reaches Delhi tomorrow, meets Mamata on Saturday

Dhaka and New Delhi are now hectically engaged with each other to complete the last-minute preparations for the state visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that begins tomorrow. And, as part of the preparations to make the Bangladesh head of the governments visit a success, which is taking place after seven years, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, the top diplomat of the country, and Director General of South Asia wing of the foreign ministry arrived in the Indian capital yesterday noon. They have already met with the Bangladesh High Commissioner in Delhi Syed Muazzem Ali and other officials. It has been learnt that the foreign secretary and the director general will have engagements with their Indian counterparts before the arrival of Sheikh Hasina to fine-tune all the details of the visit and more than 30 bilateral instruments due to be signed during the trip.The stage is all set. All we are doing now is fine-tuning so that everything goes as planned, said a diplomat. This visit is very important for both the countries. This will further strengthen the ties between the two next door neighbours for the betterment of the two peoples, High Commissioner Ali told reporters who flew to Delhi to cover the prime ministers visit. On its part, according to diplomatic sources, India has made all the arrangements to welcome the prime minister. As earlier announced, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, in a separate letter, has invited Hasina to stay at the Rastrapati Bhaban (Presidential Palace) during her stay in India. This is, according to the diplomats from both the countries, is a rare gesture from the Indian head of state. A former senior diplomat informed that Hasinas father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the last Bangladeshi leader who was given this extraordinary honour. April 8 (Saturday) is the highlight of the four-day visit when both Hasina and her Indian counterpart will hold official talks at the Hyderabad House covering all the aspects of the bilateral relationship. In terms of hospitality, undoubtedly this visit is different from PMs earlier visit in January 2010, said a diplomat. According to different government sources, this visit might be much better in terms of hospitality and other gestures. But, said a source, I would have been very happy if I could tell you that in terms of substance and fulfilment of the peoples aspiration this visit is going to be better than seven years ago. This visit will be described as a success only if there is a clear development with regards to Bangladeshs pending issues like Teesta water sharing agreement, basin-wise management of common rivers, a complete end to the killing of Bangladeshis by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the border, and Indias positive attitude towards proposed Ganges barrage, they said. Lets see how things go. But to be honest, apart from the Ganges barrage issue, I dont see any positive development with regards to the issues that matter to Bangladesh, said another source. When asked to describe in a sentence about the main objective of the visit, a senior official told The Independent, To fulfil diplomatic obligation and strengthen the relationship. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to meet Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Saturday, adds PTI from New Delhi. Mamata, who will arrive in Delhi on Friday, is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss several issues including central funds to her state and the contentious Teesta water-sharing issue, sources said. Bangladesh PM will arrive in India on Friday on a four-day visit during which she will have a series of meetings on various issues including on enhancing rail, road and water connectivity. The sources said Mamatais expected to meet Modi in the banquet.