Jaishankar to visit Dhaka on Thursday

External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India Dr S Jaishankar will pay a day-long visit to Dhaka on Thursday to hand over an invitation letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina to visit India.

"Yes, the EAM will pay a one day visit to Dhaka on Thursday. He will carry a letter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invite Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India," said India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla here on Monday.

When his attention was drawn to Bangladesh media reports on Jaishankar's upcoming Dhaka visit, Shringla, the former ambassador of India to Bangladesh, told media that "it is confirmed that the EAM will visit Dhaka on Thursday and it will be a one-day visit". 

Shringla was responding to some queries of journalists after an award-giving ceremony for logo and backdrop design competition held on the occasion of Bangladesh-India Friendship Day (Moitri Dibosh) at the Bangladesh high commission here. He joined the function as the chief guest. 

Jaishankar will arrive in Dhaka in the morning on Thursday by a special aircraft and return to New Delhi on the same day evening.

However, diplomatic sources in New Delhi said during the visit Jaishankar will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and hold a bilateral meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen. He will also join a dinner to be hosted by Abdul Momen. 

When contacted another source familiar with the development said the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India at the invitation of Modi may happen in the first week of July this year. 

The visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is considered a crucial one at a time when many developments have been happening in the regional and international arena during the last couple of months. Many pending issues are likely to be discussed during the visit, he added.   

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last visited New Delhi from 3 to 6 October to attend the Indian Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF). During the visit, the Bangladesh Premier held bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. 

Besides, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Bangladesh from 26-27 March at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to join the celebration of the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence, the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 50th years of establishment of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations. 

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind paid a state visit to Bangladesh from 15-17 December 2021 at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart President Abdul Hamid to attend the 50th victory day celebrations of Bangladesh.

India considered the high-level visits and the present India-Bangladesh ties as a "Sonali Adhwai" or Golden Chapter of bilateral relations between the two countries.