NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday reached Dhaka for a two-day visit to Bangladesh which is aimed at enhancing ties with the neighbouring country. The foreign secretary is likely to meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to deliver a ‘special message’ from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is Shringla’s second visit to Bangladesh within five months. He had last visited Bangladesh in March.
According to local media reports, Hasina is likely to meet Shringla at her official residence after which the foreign secretary will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Masud Bin Momen and Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.
The visit is being seen as New Delhi’s attempt to check Dhaka’s growing proximity to Beijing in the aftermath of the June 15 violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. India, as a retaliatory measure, had banned 59 Chinese apps citing security concerns. Later, China had responded by exempting import duty on around 100 Bangladeshi products.
The trip is also being perceived as a reconciliatory measure after reports of a tiff between the Bangladesh government and the Indian High Commissioner and the alleged questions over the ‘quality’ of the 10 Indian locomotives given to Bangladesh. Recently, India had described its relationship with Bangladesh as “exceptionally close”.