PM leaves for New Delhi to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (8 June) left here for New Delhi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as the prime minister of India for a third consecutive term.

She went to India to attend the swearing-in ceremony at her Indian counterpart's invitation.

A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members departed from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka at 10:15pm.

The flight is scheduled to land at the Palam Air Force Station, the VVIP airport in New Delhi, at 12pm (New Delhi time).

Sheikh Hasina will be received by a high-level Indian delegation and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Md Mustafizur Rahman at the airport.

During her stay in New Delhi, the prime minister will hold a tete-a-tete (one-to-one) with Narendra Modi after joining the oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhaban at 7:20pm on Sunday (9 June).

Later, she will attend the state dinner hosted by the Indian president.

The Bangladesh premier will attend various programmes on Sunday after arriving in New Delhi.

Later, she will arrive at the Palam Air Force Station at 5pm on Monday (New Delhi time) to leave New Delhi and is scheduled to reach Dhaka at  8pm (BD time) the same day.

Earlier on Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited his Bangladesh counterpart to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his government during a conversation over telephone. Sheikh Hasina accepted the invitation.

Modi is going to take oath on 9 June evening as the BJP-led NDA owns 293 seats while the opposition INDIA bloc secured 234 seats in the 18th Lok Sabha elections.  

The oath-taking ceremony earlier was scheduled to be held on June 8 morning.

World leaders including Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal are set to attend the function, which will witness a record presence of over 8,000 dignitaries.

The Bangladesh prime minister was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Modi, reflecting the warmth and personal rapport between the two leaders.

Sheikh Hasina congratulated Narendra Modi on the resounding victory of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha election.

"As the leader of the largest democracy in the world, you carry the hopes and aspirations of the people of India," she said.

Modi received a congratulatory telephone call from Sheikh Hasina for the victory of BJP-led NDA, according to the Press Information Bureau of India.

Modi also thanked Sheikh Hasina for her warm wishes following his election victory.

"India and Bangladesh share historic relations, which have seen unprecedented growth in the last decade," Modi said.

In a message shared through X, Modi said he looks forward to working together to further strengthen the people-centric partnership between Bangladesh and India.

The two leaders pledged to continue working together to further deepen the historic and close ties under the renewed mandate toward achieving Viksit Bharat 2047 and Smart Bangladesh 2041.