Bangladesh, India have 'sweet' bilateral relationship: Abdul Momen

Bangladesh and India have been enjoying a "sweet" bilateral relationship and during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's visit on Thursday both sides would discuss all major bilateral issues, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen has said.

Without giving details, Momen said Jaishankar, who will arrive in Dhaka on a half-day official visit, might bring some "good news" and he was expected to “give us some surprise".

Momen said on Tuesday that he is happy about his Indian counterpart's visit as Bangladesh and India have been enjoying a "sweet" relation” and during his visit both sides would “discuss all our major bilateral issues."

He said the two countries were also expected to fix the date of the 7th Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting, which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi.

During his visit, Jaishankar will call on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and handover an invitation to her on her counterpart Narendra Modi’s behalf to visit New Delhi, officials here said.

“He is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Hasina at her Ganabhaban official residence at 4 pm to handover the invitation letter, an event which will be followed by a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Momen at Foreign Service academy at 5 pm,” the official said.

It is learnt that Jaishankar's trip to Bangladesh is aimed at preparing the grounds for a visit to India by Hasina.

Momen would also host an Iftar followed by dinner in Jaishankar’s honour at the academy.

The last visit by Jaishankar to Bangladesh was in March last year. In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said the forthcoming visit of the external affairs minister to Bangladesh may be seen in the context of frequent bilateral high-level visits and exchanges particularly as both sides commemorate 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Hasina last visited New Delhi in 2019 to attend the Indian Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF) when she also had bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart.

Modi, on the other hand, visited Bangladesh on March 26-27 last year at Hasina’s invitation to join golden jubilee celebration of the country's independence, birth centenary of Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 50th years of establishment of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations.

President Ram Nath Kovind also paid a state visit to Dhaka from December 15-17 last year at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid to attend the 50th victory day celebration of Bangladesh.

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