PM's India trip 'in April'

After backpedalling for some time on a pending trip, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears ready to welcome his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi, most likely in April.

Indian Foreign Secretary Subramanyam Jaishankar will arrive in Dhaka on February 23 to finalise the trip, which was deferred twice as both parties reportedly failed to find a mutually agreeable date over the last couple of months.

Upon arrival, Subramanyam will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and hold meetings with government officials to finalise signing of over two dozen agreements, including those for using Chittagong and Mongla ports by India.

Hasina's New Delhi visit is unlikely to make any breakthrough in Teesta water-sharing treaty that has been kept on hold by India, sources said.

But security and defence cooperation is likely to top the agenda.

The trip, as seen by diplomatic circle, however, is very significant from Indian perspective with China making a great effort in deepening cooperation with Bangladesh.

The Modi administration looked uncomfortable when China, during Chinese President Xi Jinping's Dhaka visit on October 14-15 last year, elevated the bilateral ties from a comprehensive partnership of cooperation to a strategic partnership of cooperation, inking at least 27 deals involving about $25 billion.    

New Delhi was reported not to be happy with Dhaka when Bangladesh purchased two submarines from China. A hefty defence deal during Hasina's visit might thaw the relationship, observed diplomatic sources.    

Though Indian government did not react sharply over the submarine purchase, Indian diplomats and think-tanks suggested that Bangladesh government should explain the purpose of acquiring the submarines.

During the PM's visit, the two neighbours might sign a cooperation document to strengthen counterterrorism efforts.

Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar during his two-day visit to Bangladesh on November 30 to December 1 last year had wide-ranging discussions with the political and military leadership of Bangladesh and proposed a number of new initiatives to enhance the capacity and capability endeavours of the Bangladesh Armed Forces.

Highly placed sources said there is a proposal from Indian side to assist the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard by providing ships, equipment, training and other related supports apparently to reduce Chinese influence in the Bay and Indian Ocean.

China still remains Bangladesh's main supplier of military hardware and the biggest trading partner and it continues to make large investments here.

India is likely to make a fresh commitment to provide loans of over $12 billion. A good number of projects have already been identified for implementation with this fund.

Sources said the Indian side has already sent a list of 41 proposed MoUs and deals.

The list does not include the Teesta issue as, highly placed diplomatic sources said, no visible progress has been made in signing the Teesta agreement since it was stalled in September 2011.

Dhaka has long been pursuing a comprehensive water-sharing agreement with India. Under it, there will be a modality of water sharing, river management and other water-related issues of all the 54 common rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh.

To prepare the ground for Hasina's trip, the Indian foreign secretary will arrive on the afternoon of February 23. He will depart Dhaka the next morning, according to diplomatic sources in Dhaka and New Delhi.

Earlier, New Delhi proposed to make arrangement for her visit in December last year, but Dhaka requested to reschedule it to February 2017.

However, India has found it difficult to arrange the high-profile visit in February because of elections in five states in India, including the most populous Uttar Pradesh, which began on February 11.

“The visit now may take place end of March or early April. In case it does not take place by April, then the visit will be delayed for a prolonged period,” a highly placed diplomatic source in New Delhi told The Daily Star yesterday.

A number of sources said the possibility of Hasina's visit next month is very slim as the Indian government will remain busy with budget. The trip will be most likely in April, they added.

Asked about possible deal on defence cooperation, an Indian diplomat yesterday told The Daily Star that the two countries have already set mechanism in security and defence fields, but the upcoming visit will help enhance further cooperation to enable the forces of the two countries to fight against terrorism and violent extremism in the region.

During Hasina's visit, the diplomat said, Modi will also convey India's message to stand by her government on security or any other issues for the interest of India and Bangladesh.

New Delhi also wants the Hasina government to take effective measures to ensure full safety and security of religious minorities in Bangladesh.