Dhaka, Delhi to Discuss Bilateral Ties

Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and Indian High Commission in Dhaka will jointly organise a seminar titled ''Bangladesh and India: A Promising Future'' here on Monday.

Prime Minister's International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi will address the seminar as the chief guest while Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will deliver the keynote speech at the seminar.

The Indian Foreign Secretary is scheduled to arrive here on Monday morning on a brief visit to finalise things ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit this month.

He will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday.

This will be Shringla's first visit to Bangladesh as the Indian Foreign Secretary.

BIISS Chairman Ambassador M Fazlul Karim, BIISS acting Director-General Colonel Sheikh Masud Ahmed, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das

and Distinguished Fellow, CPD Dr Mustafizur Rahman will attend the seminar, among others.

Shringla will leave Dhaka on Tuesday morning, an official told UNB.

The two countries are working on the programmes to be jointly inaugurated during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi will attend the birth centenary celebrations of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and have bilateral talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

Modi will arrive here either on March 16 or 17 as talks are going on at official-level to finalise the date.

Confirming Modi's visit in March, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Prime Minister Hasina will be able to receive her Indian counterpart at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport if he comes on March 16.

Sheikh Hasina will be visiting Tungipara on March 17 to pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, said the foreign minister adding that it will be good for the Bangladesh side if Modi comes on March 16.

The foreign minister said there will be a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry is working on the agenda to be discussed at the meeting.

The two countries are also working on the programmes to be jointly inaugurated during the visit, said the Foreign Minister.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced that March 2020 to March 2021 would be observed as the 'Mujib Borsho' (Mujib Year) across the country to mark the birth centenary of Bangabandhu while the mega event will be held on March 17.

Year-long programmes at home and abroad will be observed with the participation of the mass people at the government and party levels apart from engagement from Bangladesh's foreign friends.

The 'Mujib Borsho' will be followed by the golden jubilee celebrations of the country's independence in 2021.

Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and former Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi are also expected to visit Dhaka this year to attend the birth centenary celebrations of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Indian government announced that they will also work together to commemorate the two important anniversary years -- Bangabandhu's birth centenary in 2020; and 50 years of Bangladesh's War of Liberation, and the establishment of India-Bangladesh bilateral diplomatic ties in the year 2021.

Source: UNB