Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to host his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at his residence ahead of the G-20 Summit where Bangladesh is among the nine “guest countries”. Ms. Hasina is scheduled to arrive here on Friday for a three-day visit during which she will speak in the Session 1 of the summit and participate in other activities of the G-20 gathering.
The visit is significant as it is likely to be the last trip to Delhi by her before Bangladesh heads for the election in December. The meeting with Mr. Modi will give both sides a chance to refresh the India-Bangladesh relation as both the leaders have maintained conversation since Mr. Modi and Ms. Hasina met during June 2015 when they sealed the Land Boundary Agreement. The Hindu has learned that a slot of nearly one and half hours has been fixed for the Modi-Hasina meeting in 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence of Mr. Modi for Friday evening. Ms. Hasina has been under pressure to facilitate free and fair election from the U.S. and the E.U., but India has maintained a studied silence in this regard.
Bangladesh is among the “guest countries” in G-20 but Dhaka is also sharing some of the regional and global diplomacy alongside Delhi as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to visit Dhaka during the G-20 session in Delhi. Mr. Lavrov will arrive later on Thursday in Dhaka and will meet with Ms. Hasina on Friday morning before flying to Delhi.
