Sushma Swaraj arrives today

Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj arrives here on Sunday on a two-day visit to discuss bilateral issues with an expectation to take forward the relations to next level.

She will arrive at the Bangabandhu Air Force base at 13:55pm.

Bangladesh and India will hold the next Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting on Sunday afternoon to review the entire bilateral relations and take forward the decisions taken so far.

Foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj will lead their respective sides at the meeting which will begin at 4:30pm at state guesthouse Padma.

The meeting will coordinate, oversee and follow-up implementation of initiatives as well as explore new avenues for cooperation.

The Indian external affairs minister will meet prime minister Sheikh Hasina at 6:00pm on the same day.

Rohingya issue is likely to come for discussion in both the meetings, a diplomatic source told UNB.

Earlier, Indian minister of finance and corporate affairs Arun Jaitley paid a three-day official visit from 3 October at the invitation of finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith.

The two Ministers reviewed the status of economic cooperation and development partnership initiatives taken during the visit of prime minster of India Narendra Modi to Bangladesh in June 2015 and prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina to India in April 2017.

India and Bangladesh have witnessed a deepening of bilateral economic cooperation in recent years, particularly in terms of increasing volumes of trade and investment flows, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

During the visit of prime minister Sheikh Hasina to India in April 2017, an Indian Line of Credit of US$ 4.5 billion was announced for Bangladesh.

The dollar credit line agreement for implementation of this third Line of Credit (LoC) was signed in presence of the finance ministers of finance of India and Bangladesh on 4 October.

This brought the total quantum of credit lines extended by India to Bangladesh over the last six years to US$ 8 billion.

Source: unb