Indian gov. rushes FS Shringla to Dhaka today to boost bilateral ties

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla |  This will be Harsh V. Shringla’s first visit out of India since Covid lockdown began. He is also scheduled to meet Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen.      

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh V. Shringla will be on a   hurricane  tour of Bangladesh Tuesday and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The visit aims to boost bilateral ties between the two countries, sources said.

This will be Shringla’s first visit out of the country since the Covid-19 lockdown began.    

The former high commissioner to Bangladesh is learnt to be the first visitor Hasina will be receiving since March when both countries enforced a lockdown to arrest the spread of the novel coronavirus.  

The sources said the meeting is “significant” and is aimed at “resetting” of ties in the wake of reports that Dhaka has been cosying up with China, even as the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh have come under some strain since last year.

Shringla is also scheduled to meet Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen.

He will be accompanied by outgoing High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das and Joint Secretary Smita Pant, who now looks after India’s relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar, succeeding Vikram Doraiswami who has been named as New Delhi’s new envoy to Dhaka as Das will come back to the Ministry of External Affairs as Secretary (East).  Source : The Print