By IANS
New Delhi : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will visit Bangladesh Saturday to inspect cyclone-ravaged areas and express solidarity with Bangladeshis, it was announced Wednesday.
India may announce additional aid package to Bangladesh during Mukherjee’s visit. The Indian government has already announced an aid package of $1 million after the decade’s worst cyclone hit Bangladesh Nov 15.
Mukherjee decided to visit Dhaka after he met Iftikhar Chowdhury, the foreign affairs adviser in the caretaker government, in Kampala ahead of the just ended Commonwealth summit.
Nearly two million people have been displaced by the disaster.
In Bangladesh, Mukherjee will also meet Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and the foreign affairs adviser. He would survey some cyclone-affected areas and meet a cross-section of people, the external affairs ministry said.
Over the last few days India has delivered relief materials to Bangladesh consisting of medicines, tents, blankets, ready-to-eat meals and portable water-purifiers.
The last consignment would reach Dhaka Dec 1 when Mukherjee is expected to symbolically hand it over to the Bangladeshi authorities.
New Delhi has also lifted the ban on export of rice with respect to Bangladesh, allowing it to import 50,000 tonnes of rice from India.
Earlier, following torrential rains that caused mudslides in Chittagong in June, India extended $10 million assistance to Bangladesh.