Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra's visit 'postponed'

The planned official visit of Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra to Bangladesh has been postponed, says a diplomatic source on Thursday.

The visit, which will take place on a mutually convenient new date, is part of high-level exchanges between Bangladesh and India and to review progress in the two countries' bilateral cooperation agenda, said the source.

The guests who were invited to attend the dinner with the Indian FS on April 20 also received a message on Thursday that said the visit "has been postponed."

Though there was no official announcement from Dhaka and New Delhi regarding the visit, he was supposed to be in Dhaka on a brief visit on Saturday.

Apart from his meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Masud Bin Momen, the Indian foreign secretary was due to meet Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud.

Diplomatic sources indicate that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India is planned for early July after the conclusion of the neighbouring country's national election, which is the world's largest democratic exercise, spanning seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with the vote count set for June 4.

Pre-election surveys suggest a strong showing for the coalition led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is widely anticipated to secure re-election.

"Prime Minister's (Sheikh Hasina) India visit will definitely take place. However, it will take place after the election in India," FM Hasan said recently.

He said it is not yet discussed at the official level when the visit will exactly take place.

In January, Modi extended warm congratulations to PM Hasina on her electoral victory, expressing hopes for the continued strengthening of the historically close ties between India and Bangladesh.

The last bilateral engagement between the two prime ministers occurred during the G-20 Leaders Summit in September 2023, where Bangladesh was the guest country.

PM Modi is expected to extend invitations to South Asian and BIMSTEC country leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, fostering regional cooperation.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh-India Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) were held in New Delhi on 24 November 2023.

FOC is an institutional dialogue mechanism between the two foreign secretaries to review the entire gamut of bilateral relationships.

Both sides in bilateral forums usually discuss comprehensively a wide range of issues covering border and security, trade, commerce and connectivity, cooperation in water, power and energy sectors, people to people ties and development cooperation in Bangladesh.

The government of India in March extended Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra's tenure by six months.

Kwatra assumed charge as India's foreign secretary on 1 May 2022 and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988.