PM to visit New Delhi tomorrow morning for Modi's swearing-in

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave here for New Delhi tomorrow (8 June) morning to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as the prime minister of India for a third consecutive term.

A Biman Bangladesh flight, carrying the Prime Minister and her entourage members, will depart Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka at 10am tomorrow.

The flight is scheduled to land at Palam Air Force Station, the VVIP airport in New Delhi at 12pm (local time).

The premier will be received by a high-level Indian delegation and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Md Mustafizur Rahman at the airport.

During her stay in New Delhi, Sheikh Hasina will hold a tete-a-tete (one-to-one meeting) with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi after joining the oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhaban at 7:20pm on Sunday.

Later, she will attend a state dinner to be hosted by the Indian president.

The Bangladesh premier will attend various other programmes in New Delhi on Sunday.

Finally, she will arrive at the Palam Air Force Station at 5pm (New Delhi time) after completing some official tasks to leave New Delhi and she is scheduled to reach Dhaka at 8pm (BD time).

Earlier on Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited his Bangladeshi counterpart to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his government during a conversation over telephone. Sheikh Hasina accepted the invitation.

Modi is likely to take oath on 9 June evening as the BJP-led NDA won 293 seats while the opposition INDIA bloc secured 234 seats in the 18th Lok Sabha elections. The oath-taking ceremony was earlier scheduled to be held on 8 June morning.

World leaders, including Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, are set to attend the function, which will record a presence of over 8,000 dignitaries.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Modi, reflecting the warmth and personal rapport between the two leaders.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina congratulated Narendra Modi on the resounding victory of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha election.

"As the leader of the largest democracy in the world, you carry the hopes and aspirations of the people of India," she said.

Modi received a congratulatory telephone call from Sheikh Hasina for the victory of BJP-led NDA, according to the Press Information Bureau of India.

Modi thanked Sheikh Hasina for her warm wishes following his election victory.

"India and Bangladesh share historic relations, which have seen unprecedented growth in the last decade," Modi said.

In a message shared through X, Modi said he looks forward to working together to further strengthen the people-centric partnership between Bangladesh and India.

The two leaders pledged to continue working together to further deepen the historic and close ties under the renewed mandate towards achieving Viksit Bharat 2047 and Smart Bangladesh 2041.