Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Bangladesh, his first visit abroad in more than a year largely because of the covid-19 pandemic, on 26-27 March. Ahead of the prime minister’s visit, Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said Dhaka looked forward to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit this month to take forward the relations with some deliverables.
The two countries may take a step towards launching talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during the visit, which is primarily to take part in the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence and 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations. Modi’s planned visit to Bangladesh on March 26-27 will be his first foreign trip in more than a year mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bangladesh is set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence and 50 years of Dhaka-New Delhi diplomatic relations this year. Ties between the two countries have been on an upswing since 2015 when the two countries concluded their land boundary agreement that had been pending for decades.
The consultations between the top diplomats of the two foreign offices comes days after the first-ever participation by a Bangladeshi tri-services contingent at the Republic Day parade, and a gift of 2 million Covid vaccines to Bangladesh by India.
