Special visit with special gesture: Sheikh Hasina welcomes PM Modi at Dhaka

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrived at Dhaka Airport on Friday to take part in the Mujib Borsho and National Day celebrations.

"A special visit begins with a special gesture. PM Sheikh Hasina welcomes PM @narendramodi at Dhaka airport," tweeted Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Hasina welcomed PM Modi by giving him a bouquet of flowers. Prime Minister Modi was given a guard of honour at the airport.

The Prime Minister is set to attend an event at the National Martyr's Memorial to commemorate the lives lost during the 1971 Liberation War.

Thereafter, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen will call on Prime Minister Modi at 3:15 pm. Later, he will attend the National Day Programme at 3:45 pm and then inaugurate Bapu Bangabandhu Digital Video Exhibition at 7:45 pm.

PM Modi will call on Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid during the visit. He will hold restricted delegation-level talks with his counterpart Hasina.

This is PM Modi's first foreign visit since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two nations are celebrating Mujib Borsho or the birth centenary of Bangladesh's father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 50 years of diplomatic ties and 50 years of Bangladesh's war of liberation.