PM Modi begins two day Bangladesh visit today

New Delhi, Mar 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest at Bangadesh's 50th anniversary celebrations. He would also be the chief guest that the 100th birth anniversary celebrations of the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.

This would be the PM's first overseas visit after the onset of the COVID-19. The PM would land in Dhaka on March 26 and would return on March 27 after visiting three towns in Bangladesh.

The PM said that his visit will serve to underline India's support for Bangladesh's economic and developmental achievements.

The PM said, "my visit will not only be an occasion to convey appreciation for Bangladesh's remarkable economic and developmental strides under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visionary leadership, but also to commit India's abiding support for these achievements. I will also express India's support and solidarity for Bangladesh's fight against Covid-19. Modi said he was looking forward to participating in the National Day celebrations, which will also commemorate the birth centenary of "Bangabandhu" Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation of Bangladesh."

The PM will visit Tungipara, the family village of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. He will offer prayers at the Jessoreshwari Temple in Satkhira and at the Matua Temple in Orakhandi. Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla told reporters that Bangladesh is India's development partner in the world.

The visit is an important one and the PM had described Bangladesh as an important pillar of India's neighbourhood first policy. The last trip abroad made by the PM was in November 2019. He had to scrap his travel plans over the past one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PM Modi will be the chief guest at the main even organised by the Sheikh Hasina government to commemorate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring erstwhile East Pakistan as an independent country, Bangladesh, on March 26, 1971. India had helped Bangladesh defeat Pakistan, which led to the surrendering of their forces on December 16 1971.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had last week met his Bangladeshi counterpart A K Abdul Momen and held wide-ranging discussions on ways to take forward the bilateral relations.

As part of India''s "Neighbourhood First" policy, Jaishankar arrived in Dhaka last week on a day-long visit to prepare the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s upcoming visit to Bangladesh.

Momen and Jaishankar led their respective sides at a bilateral meeting held at a state guesthouse and took stock of the progress of relations between the two countries.

"EAM @DrSJaishankar held wide-ranging bilateral discussions with FM @AKAbdulMomen at State Guest House Padma," the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a tweet.