Several world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Heads of State of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives, are scheduled to visit Bangladesh later this month to participate in the grand celebrations to commemorate the golden jubilee of the country’s independence. Pakistan.
The Golden Jubilee Celebration, held on March 17-27 for the country’s independence from Pakistan after the 1971 Liberation War, also coincides with the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The Chief Information Officer of the Bangladesh government, Surath Kumar Sarkar, told PTI that Prime Minister Modi and the four heads of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives will be among the distinguished foreign guests attending the separate event.
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohammad Solih will be the first top foreign dignitary to arrive on a three-day visit on 17 March, followed by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who will be on a two-day visit on 19 March. Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari will be in Dhaka on a two-day visit from 22 March, while Bhutanese Premier Lotte Tshirting will be in the country from 24 March to 25 March.
Prime Minister Modi will arrive on a two-day visit on 26 March and attend the main Independence Day celebrations, which also include 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations.
Also read: Policy of ‘Neighborhood First’, the key pillar of Bangladesh, PM Modi said
Mr. Sarkar said that the foreign heads of state and government would attend some similar programs as part of the function, while Mr. Modi’s visit would be an extension that would take him to three locations outside Dhaka, Mr. Sarkar said.
Foreign dignitaries will also visit the Bangabandhu Museum to mark the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation.
The museum was actually the private residence of the country’s founder where he was killed in the 1975 coup along with most of his family members, while his elder daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived the massacre.
He was on a brief tour in Germany at the time of the put which also killed 10-year-old child Sheikh Russell, the founder of Bangladesh.
According to the schedule, world leaders will visit the national monument on the outskirts of the capital, pay special military parades, attend state banquets and visit the Bangabandhu Museum to pay homage to the martyrs of the 1971 freedom struggle.
“But the Indian Prime Minister will also visit the Bangabandhu Temple (his village home) in Tungipara and two Hindu temples outside Dhaka.”
The temples are especially the shrines of the Matua community, a large part of which is a resident of the state of West Bengal, India.
Bangladesh had originally planned a grand celebration for the 50th year of independence and Bangabandhu’s birth centenary, but the coronovirus epidemic forced the country to revise the plan on health grounds.
Foreign Minister S., who visited Bangladesh earlier this month.
Mr. Jaishankar, who had extensive discussions with his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Moman, said that Bangladesh was central to India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy and was relevant to the country’s ‘Act East Policy’.
On March 9, Ms. Hasina recalled India’s role in Bangladesh’s liberation war during an online event for the inauguration of the Maitri Sethu bridge connecting Tripura to Bangladesh.
“Fifty years ago, in 1971, India opened its border to the people of Bangladesh to support its freedom struggle. Today, we are building a prosperous region together,” she said.
The 1.9-km Maitri Setu is built on the Feni river flowing between the Indian border in Tripura and Bangladesh and connects Sabroom in India to Ramgarh in Bangladesh.
Shri Modi said that the bridge will accelerate the economic opportunity in Bangladesh apart from the Northeast region and thanked Dhaka for cooperation in the completion of the project.
Shri Modi said that connectivity is not only strengthening the friendship between India and Bangladesh, but is also proving to be a strong link of trade.
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