Indian foreign and finance ministers to visit Dhaka

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are coming to Dhaka next month on a bilateral visit. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque is set to visit Delhi next week, according to sources. Sushma Swaraj is expected to arrive on either October 22 or 23 in Dhaka, on a two-day visit to attend the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting. A government official said this year’s JCC meeting is crucial for the relations between Bangladesh and India. “India’s unwillingness to denounce persecution of the Rohingya and denying their oppression will affect Bangladesh negatively.” Former Indian ambassador to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty was recently cited in an article published by the Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF). He said: “This problem is a test for Sheikh Hasina. Since Bangladesh will hold the national elections in 2018, her political opponents will attack her. They will also test her friendship with India.” A Foreign Ministry official said the Indian foreign minster was supposed to come sooner, but could not due to many reasons. This is going to be the fourth JCC meeting where the ministers from both countries will discuss all necessary bilateral issues. The previous meeting was held in October 2014.

Arun Jaitley’s visit to Dhaka

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was invited by his Bangladesh counterpart AMA Muhith, will arrive in Dhaka on October 3 on a three-day official visit. According to officials, the two ministers will discuss economic relations between both countries during the meeting, where the main focus will be line of credit. In fact, India gave Bangladesh the first $1 billion line of credit in 2010. In 2011, Bangladesh was given $2 billion line of credit, and in 2016, $4 billion ordinary line of credit and $500 million in line of credit for defence-related procurement.

Shahidul Haque’s visit to Delhi

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque is going to Delhi on October 3 to attend the Indian Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum. The secretary will also participate in more than one meeting in Delhi. When asked about his visit, a Foreign Ministry official said that Shahidul is expected to meet many people in India. Earlier, the foreign secretary attended more than one meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during an international programme held in Colombo in August.  This article was first published on Bangla Tribune.