Indian foreign secretary arrives in Dhaka

Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale has arrived in Dhaka on a two-day official visit to Bangladesh. He has come to Bangladesh to finalize the schedule of the meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during the Commonwealth Summit in London, diplomatic sources said. The meeting between the two prime ministers is likely to be held on April 19 or 20 on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). During the meeting, they will discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues and review the implementation of the 62-point joint statement issued during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's India visit in April 2017, the sources said. Gokhale, who arrived on Sunday at 4:20pm, will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and also hold a bilateral meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart. He will also meet think-tank representatives with whom he is expected to hold a closed-door session in the evening. The Indian dignitary will hold a bilateral meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart at the State Guesthouse Meghna, Monday morning. The meeting will be followed by signing of some memoranda of understanding (MoUs), mostly on development and cooperation programs, and he will make a press statement at 12pm. Gokhale is scheduled to attend a Bilateral Conclave on India-Bangladesh Relations: "Deepening Cooperation and the Way Ahead" organized by the Institute for Policy, Advocacy and Governance on Monday afternoon.