Modi to visit Dhaka this June in first bilateral visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Dhaka by the end of this June in his first official bilateral trip after becoming the Prime Minister for the consecutive term.

He was sworn in as the Prime Minister on 9 June in a grand ceremony which was attended by leaders from the neighbouring and Indian Ocean countries.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her call-on with Prime Minister Modi extended invitation to visit her country for a bilateral meeting. Dhaka is keen that Modi visits Bangladesh in his first official foreign trip as he did in 2015, sources told ABP LIVE.

Bangladesh, sources said, sought PM Modi’s “early availability” before PM Hasina embarks on her trip to China which was confirmed a couple of month back. Dhaka is now aiming to take bilateral times to the next level.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud told ABP LIVE, “We are hoping to enhance trade and connectivity ties with India … We have already done a lot in terms of goods transit from India ‘border haats’. We want PM Modi to visit Dhaka soon.”  

Meanwhile, PM Hasina met PM Modi Monday and extended the invitation officially while also firming up plans for the progress of bilateral ties. She was also accompanied by her daughter Saima Wazed, who is also the South Asia head of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi have expressed their desire for bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India to deepen further. The expectations were shared during a tete-e-tete between the two PMs after the swearing-in ceremony of Modi's cabinet on Sunday evening,” the ruling Awami League said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in a surprise meeting before leaving for Dhaka, Hasina met Congress party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. The meeting went on for more than an hour at the ITC Maurya Hotel where Hasina was putting up. Even before the official allocation of portfolios, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called on Hasina on Monday afternoon.