FROM NEW DELHI: Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali arrived in New Delhi on Thursday noon on a four-day official visit.
He will attend the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting to be held in the Indian capital on Saturday.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim welcomed the minister along with the Indian foreign ministry officials.
Diplomatic sources said that the minister would go to Bangladesh high commission from the airport.
Bangladesh high commission minister (press) in New Delhi Enamul Haque Chowdhury told banglanews on Thursday that at the high commission office the foreign minister will discuss on the upcoming JCC meeting.
Later in the evening, he is expected to attend a cultural program at India foreign ministry.
The foreign minister is scheduled to meet India’s water resources minister Uma Bharati at 11:30am on Friday.
He will also pay courtesy call on India president Pranab Mukherjee at 12:30pm, national security advisor Ajit Doval at 2:30pm and prime minister Narendra Modi at 4:00pm on the day.
He is expected to meet India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley during the visit.
Foreign ministers of two countries will attend the JCC meeting at 11:30am on Saturday at Neheru Bhaban in New Delhi.
Mahmood Ali will also meet India’s Rajya Sabha (Upper House) opposition leader Golam Nabi Azad at 4:30pm on the day.
According to the high commission source, after the JCC meeting, Bangladesh foreign minister on Saturday will leave New Delhi to attend UN general assembly in New York.
Foreign secretary Shahidul Haque and PMO principal secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar will accompany the minister.
Bangladesh high commission minister (press) Enamul Haque Chowdhury said they are also working on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Delhi and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Dhaka visits.
Bangladesh cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor will attend South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference of cultural ministers to be held in New Delhi on September 23.
** Work on to strengthen Indo-Bangla ties
BDST: 1540 HRS, SEP 18, 2014
