India – Bangladesh are set to explore more avenues for strengthening ties. The two foreign ministers would discuss issues on how to further strengthen the existing multifaceted bilateral cooperation, share water and Rohingya crisis, sources said. Two countries enjoy excellent bilateral relations with a number of important projects in the field of railways, power and infrastructure sector with Indian assistance, they said.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will attend meeting on today (Tuesday) at the State Guest house in the city, a foreign ministry statement said on Monday. After meeting, they will address at a joint press briefing at the same venue, it mentioned.
Dr Momen will host lunch in honour of his Indian counterpart after the meeting, a foreign ministry official said.
Dr S Jaishankar is going to start the day by visiting Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at 9:30am and pay tributes to the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the city’s Dhanmondi, he informed. The Indian Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence about 5 pm on the day, he said.
The Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Riva Ganguly Das will host a private dinner for the visiting Indian External Affairs Minister on Tuesday evening, he mentioned. Indian Foreign Minister will leave Dhaka on Wednesday morning, he said. Last night, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen received his Indian counterpart at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Earlier on July 29, Momen said, “Jaishankar’s visit will be a courtesy trip. He said his Indian counterpart accepted his invitation to visit Bangladesh,” according to a media report. Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali called on the Indian foreign minister in New Delhi in July and conveyed him the Bangladesh Foreign Minister’s invitation to visit Bangladesh.
In June Momen invited Jaishankar when he held first meeting with his new Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). During that meeting, Jaishankar assured that he would visit Bangladesh at his convenient time. It will be the S Jaishankar’s first Bangladesh visit after taking oath to office in Narendra Modi’s cabinet on May 30.
S Jaishankar, a career diplomat, served as India’s foreign secretary from January 2015 to January 2018. The 64-year-old had joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977 and had stints as the high commissioner to Singapore and the ambassador to China and the US. He is credited for helping resolve the Doklam stand-off through negotiations with China. Earlier in 2007, he played a key role in negotiating the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement that was signed by the UPA government.
After his retirements from the Indian foreign services in 2018, he had taken over as the Tata Group’s president of Global Corporate Affairs. S Jaishankar was honoured with the Padma Shri award by President Ram Nath Kovind in March this year.