Hasan Mahmud to visit Delhi on 7 Feb, strengthening relations on agenda

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud is scheduled to leave for New Delhi, India on 7 February – the first bilateral visit by the minister after his appointment – to further strengthen Bangladesh-India relations.

"It's likely to be a three-day visit," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, noting that the agenda of the visit is yet to be finalised.

The Foreign Minister said he will be visiting the country at the invitation of Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.

Asked whether he will have a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, Mahmud said, "It is too early to say."

Jaishankar, earlier, invited his Bangladesh counterpart Dr Hasan Mahmud to visit New Delhi at a mutually convenient time.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma extended the invitation on behalf of the Indian External Affairs Minister on Monday.

The Foreign Minister accepted the invitation and told him that he would visit Delhi soon.

Mahmud was scheduled to embark on a multilateral tour to Uganda last night. After two hours, he came to know that the flight would not depart due to fog and poor visibility. The Foreign Minister was scheduled to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the NAM Summit today.

The meeting with the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka marked Hasan Mahmud's first diplomatic engagement since assuming the office of foreign minister.

He noted the successful holding of the 12th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh on January 7, which was free, fair and participatory, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He also noted that international elections observers and media who visited Dhaka to cover elections expressed their satisfaction with the election process.