Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to host his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at his residence ahead of the G-20 Summit where Bangladesh is among the nine “guest countries”. Ms. Hasina is scheduled to arrive here on Friday for a three-day visit during which she will speak in the Session 1 of the summit and participate in other activities of the G-20 gathering.
The visit is significant as it is likely to be the last trip to Delhi by her before Bangladesh heads for the election in December. The meeting with Mr. Modi will give both sides a chance to refresh the India-Bangladesh relation as both the leaders have maintained conversation since Mr. Modi and Ms. Hasina met during June 2015 when they sealed the Land Boundary Agreement. The Hindu has learned that a slot of nearly one and half hours has been fixed for the Modi-Hasina meeting in 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence of Mr. Modi for Friday evening. Ms. Hasina has been under pressure to facilitate free and fair election from the U.S. and the E.U., but India has maintained a studied silence in this regard.
Bangladesh is among the “guest countries” in G-20 but Dhaka is also sharing some of the regional and global diplomacy alongside Delhi as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to visit Dhaka during the G-20 session in Delhi. Mr. Lavrov will arrive later on Thursday in Dhaka and will meet with Ms. Hasina on Friday morning before flying to Delhi.
In Delhi, the Bangladesh Prime Minister will also hold meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, President Alberto Angel Fernandez of Argentina, President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.
She will also visit Rajghat to pay tribute to the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi with other G-20 leaders on September 10 and plant a sapling at the Bharat Mandapam to mark the G-20 Summit. She is scheduled to leave by noon same day. It was planned earlier that Ms. Hasina would visit Ajmer to pray at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti but that visit is not part of the current agenda as she has to be present in Dhaka to welcome Mr. Macron. It is also being speculated that Mr. Macron may accompany Ms. Hasina on her way back home though that has not been confirmed so far by the parties concerned.
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