Kovind arrives today on first Dhaka visit

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind is arriving in Dhaka today on a three-day visit to celebrate Bangladesh's 50th Victory Day, Mujib Borsho and 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh.

He will be accompanied by First Lady of India Savita Kovind, his daughter Swati Kovind, State Minister for Education Subhas Sarkar, two members of parliament, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other high officials.

This will be his first visit to Bangladesh, at the invitation of Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid, since he took office.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the unequivocal support of India during the 1971 Liberation War is the foundation of its relations with Bangladesh. It has grown stronger and dynamic through the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"The Indian president is coming to Bangladesh as a gesture of the unique relationship between the two countries," he told reporters at a virtual press conference, connecting from Turkey, yesterday.

President Hamid will welcome his Indian counterpart at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the morning. Kovind will then be accorded a guard of honour before leaving for the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar to pay homage to Liberation War martyrs.

He will visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi and pay homage to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Hasina and Momen will call on the Indian president in the afternoon.

"Though the Indian president's visit is more ceremonial, we will discuss all issues that concern our relationship," Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told reporters.

The Indian president will call on Hamid at the Bangabhaban in the afternoon and present a T-55 tank and a Mig-29 fighter jet, which were used during the Liberation War, to be preserved at the Bangladesh National Museum.

Kovind will then attend a banquet to be hosted by Hamid.

On the Victory Day, Kovind will attend a programme as the guest of honour at the National Parade Ground. Military contingents and delegations from seven countries -- Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Turkey and the US -- will take part in the event.

"We have invited the contingents from the countries that played a role during our Liberation War. India will send a contingent of more than one hundred soldiers," a foreign ministry official told this correspondent.

Tomorrow afternoon, Kovind will attend an event titled "Mahabijoyer Mahanayak" to be held at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

Hamid, Hasina, and Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, among others, will be present there.

On the last day of his tour, the Indian president will visit the Kali Temple in the capital's Ramna and inaugurate the renovated part of it.

He will also exchange views with the members of the temple's committee.

Kovind will leave Dhaka on Friday afternoon.

Foreign Secretary Masud said no agreement would be signed during the visit.

Momen said, "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh on the occasion of our golden jubilee of independence in March this year. President Kovind is visiting this time. This is a rare incident."