India will roll out the red carpet for Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is scheduled to visit the country from October 3-6 as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on South Asian economic integration and crossborder connectivity.
Besides meeting Modi at the bilateral summit, Hasina will address the India Economic Summit, said people aware of the matter.
Bangladesh, which has witnessed a healthy growth over the past decade owing to Hasina’s policies, was among the first few countries to describe India’s move to withdraw the special status granted to Kashmir as an internal matter and to support India at the ongoing UN Human Rights Council session as one of the 47 members. Last week, Bangladesh foreign minister refused to give credence to his Pakistani counterpart when the latter called to garner support on the Kashmir issue.
Counterterrorism and deradicalisation initiatives are expected to be on the agenda of the upcoming bilateral summit.
This will be Hasina’s first visit to India after her re-election in December 2018 and also the first visit after Modi was elected to office for the second time in May 2019. The two leaders are known to have an excellent rapport.
A key item on the agenda, apart from the river water sharing issue, will be regional connectivity via land and connectivity via rivers between India and Bangladesh in particular. This is an integral element of India’s ‘Act East’ policy).
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