By IANS,
Dhaka : India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to be here mid-January, among the first foreign dignitaries to visit Bangladesh after the new government led by Sheikh Hasina is sworn in next Tuesday.
The outgoing caretaker government’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury confirmed this, but said details of the visit would be worked out by the new government.
India wholeheartedly welcomed the outcome of Dec 29 general elections that gave a sweeping three-fourths majority to Hasina’s Awami League and a nine-party alliance that she heads.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasised on the “historic ties” between the two south Asian nations and invited Hasina to visit India as soon as possible.
Mukherjee’s Dhaka visit was announced simultaneously. He is well-known to Bangladesh’s establishment and the intelligentsia.
He was last here in December 2007 to express solidarity with Bangladesh that was hit by Cyclone Sidr.
Bangladesh foreign ministry officials said the Indian minister will officially convey his government’s greetings to Awami League president Sheikh Hasina and her nascent government.
The Indian high commissioner to Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakraverty, had met Hasina earlier in the week to hand over congratulatory letters from the Indian leadership.