Hasina's 3-day India trip likely from September 6

DHAKA: Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina is likely to visit India from September 6 to 8 this year, reports Mohua Chatterjee. She has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the bilateral visit, an official statement said here on Thursday.

India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami met Hasina and handed over Modi’s invitation to her on Thursday, after which officials here confirmed her visit. According to sources here, during her Delhi trip, Hasina could take time off to visit Ajmer Sharif.

The Hasina-Modi bilateral is likely to be preceded by a ministerial-level meeting between the two sides two days before the Bangladesh PM reaches Delhi. While officials on both sides are busy working through diplomatic channels on issues that are likely to be addressed by the two leaders, the ministerial-level talks are expected to ensure a fruitful bilateral exchange, official sources said.

Hasina, who is all set to inaugurate Bangladesh’s biggest development project – the Padma Setu (bridge) – across the country’s mightiest river on Saturday, has already stressed the importance of joint ventures with India, during her conversation with Doraiswamy, it is learnt.

Hasina has shown keen interest in a joint project to supervise dredging in rivers that are shared by the two countries. She talked about a water reservoir to be created that could also prevent the damaging flood situation in both countries, including in the northeastern part of India, while expressing concern at the flood situation in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The adjacent region to these states, in Bangladesh, has also been hit by the floods. Bangladesh has extended cooperation in dealing with natural calamities in India, it is learnt.