Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reached New Delhi in India on a four-day state visit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi with cooperation on trade and energy, water sharing of common rivers, and Rohingya issues expected to be on top of the agendas.
A VVIP chartered flight of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage landed at Palam Airport at 12:10pm (BST).
India’s Union Minister of State for Textiles and Railways Darshana Vikram Jardosh and Bangladesh High Commissioner in India Muhammad Imran received Sheikh Hasina at the airport.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina arrives in India on 4-day visit
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A red carpet was rolled out at the airport in honour of Sheikh Hasina while a cultural team comprising 6-7 members will later perform a welcome dance and play musical instruments.
Earlier, the flight carrying the prime minister departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 10.17am.
She will meet India’s President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the following day.
A high-level delegation, including a number of ministers, advisers and senior officials of the government, and representatives from the business community will accompany her.
Sheikh Hasina will address a meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on Wednesday. She will offer prayers at the Ajmer Sharif dargah and the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti the next day. Earlier, she visited Ajmer Sharif in 2010 and 2017 as well.
The prime minister is set to return home on Thursday.
Sheikh Hasina is visiting India after three years since she last visited in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
Deals likely to be signed
During this visit, Bangladesh and India are likely to sign a number of agreements and Memoranda of Understandings focusing on water sharing of common rivers, power and energy cooperation, border management, and cooperation in the field of defence, railway, and science and technology.
In the wake of challenges posed by high fuel prices due to the Ukraine war, securing fuel oil remains a challenge for many countries. Bangladesh will discuss and finalise a long-term agreement on fuel import from India if the neighbour has a surplus.
Also, Dhaka and Delhi will discuss ways to ensure uninterrupted supply of foodstuff, including wheat, onion, pulses and spices, to Bangladesh.
India’s Union Minister of State for Textiles and Railways Darshana Vikram Jardosh and Bangladesh High Commissioner in India Muhammad Imran welcoming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina upon her arrival at Delhi airport on Monday, September 5, 2022 ANIPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are also expected to jointly announce the completion of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant’s first unit. Unit-I of the 1320 (2*660) MW coal-fired power plant was successfully synchronized with the national grid on August 15 and is expected to go into commercial operation in October.
Withdrawal of the anti-dumping duty on exports of jute products from Bangladesh to India is also on the table for discussions.
Signing of the MoU on interim water sharing of Kushiyara river is likely to be signed in this visit as well. The text of the MoU was finalized on August 25 by both countries.
Both the premiers are expected to talk about trial runs of cargo shipments between Kolkata, Chittagong, and Mongla ports.
The first trial run cargo ship from Kolkata under the agreement to strengthen transit facilities between India and Bangladesh arrived at Mongla Port on August 8. The cargo was bound for Assam through the Birbirbazaar-Srimantpur border points.
This exercise will create cheaper and alternative routes for India to reach its Northeast region while at the same time carrying export-import containers for Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government has finalized the export of around 5,000 tons of ilish fish to India before the Durga Puja festival. It was 1,400 tons last year.
Indian Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshana Vikram Zardosh welcomes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her arrival at Palam Airport in New Delhi, India on Monday September 5, 2022 Focus Bangla