Indian foreign secretary due Wednesday to discuss PM’s Delhi visit

India's External Affairs Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is scheduled to visit Dhaka on next Wednesday (May 10) on a two-day visit to discuss different bilateral interests and finalise the schedule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to India in June.

During the visit, he is expected to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday and deliver Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation letter to the PM requesting to visit New Delhi, said sources close to the government.

According to foreign ministry sources, the main purpose of Kwatra’s visit is to sit with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen. The secretary-level meeting is scheduled to discuss issues related to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to India and different bilateral interests.

In fact, Vinay Kwatra was scheduled to reach Dhaka on April 20 last. However, due to unavoidable reasons, the visit was postponed.

According to diplomatic sources, Sheikh Hasina would visit New Delhi is the second part of June next. But India wants the PM’s visit in July, and that is why Vinay Katra is coming to officially brief Bangladesh regarding the issue.

During the PM’s visit to India, she is supposed to have a meeting with the Indian premier. The long awaited Teesta Treaty, diplomats think, may be the primary agenda in the meeting.

A mega project of Bangladesh centring the Teesta River, to be speculatively financed by China, may also be discussed in the Hasina-Modi meeting. India is in a discomfort zone due to China’s transboundary Teesta River project.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit Beijing in July. Dhaka, however, sent a message to New Delhi that her first bilateral visit would be to India after taking office following the 12th parliamentary election.