New Delhi: Bangladesh's Foreign Minister, Khalilur Rahman, is set to visit India in April, marking the first official trip since the new Tarique Rahman government took power in Dhaka. The visit is expected to strengthen ties between the two nations after a period of unprecedented strain. Rahman will make a stopover in New Delhi on April 8 while traveling to Mauritius for the Indian Ocean Conference.
Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma met Rahman in Dhaka last month and extended an invitation from External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to visit India at an early date, reflecting New Delhi's interest in revitalising ties. The Bangladeshi PM, Tarique Rahman, is likely to visit a country in the neighbourhood, either Bhutan or the Maldives, with Thimphu widely expected to be his first foreign port of call.
Prime Minister Rahman has responded to Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's efforts to normalise and rebuild bilateral relations through a letter sent in response to a missive from the Indian leader. In his letter, Tarique Rahman acknowledged India's 'kind gesture' of sending the Lok Sabha Speaker to the swearing-in of his new government and expressed his government's intention to take forward relations and engagements with India based on equality and mutual trust.
