A red carpet was rolled out as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived here on Monday on a four-day state visit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

On arrival at Palam Airport at 11:40am local time (BD time 12:10pm) the premier was received by State Minister for Railways and Textiles of India Darshana Vikram Jardosh and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Muhammad Imran.

A cultural team performed a welcome dance and play musical instruments at the airport.

A group of women, clad in colourful saris, danced and played music to greet the Bangladesh leader at the airport. A smiling Hasina talked to the women appreciating their performance.

From the airport Sheikh Hasina drove in a ceremonial motorcade to ITC Maurya, where she will be staying during the visit. The streets along the route were decked with national flags of Bangladesh and India. Portraits of Hasina and Modi were also installed along the way.

The visit is seen as significant amid the Ukraine crisis, global economic downturn and ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as the two South Asian neighbours seek enhanced cooperation to overcome the challenges.

The prime minister flew by a VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.  

According to the traditional Indian protocol PM Hasina will be formally received by her Indian counterpart on Tuesday morning (September 6), while a ceremonial guard of honour will be accorded to her at the Rastrapati Bhabhan.

During her visit, Hasina is scheduled to hold bilateral talks and a one-to-one meeting with Modi at the Hyderabad House on Tuesday.

Issues related to security cooperation, investment, enhanced trade relations, power and energy sector cooperation, water sharing of common rivers, water resources management, border management, combating drug smuggling an human trafficking will get priority during the talks between PM Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House.

Read: PM flies to India on four-day visit

After the bilateral talks, Bangladesh and India are likely to sign seven agreements and MoUs on water management, railway, science and technology; and information and broadcasting.

The Bangladesh PM is also scheduled to attend a lunch to be hosted by her Indian counterpart.

Sheikh Hasina will also meet Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar separately on the same day.

Besides, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani will separately meet the Bangladesh Prime Minister on September 5, while Minister for Development of North Eastern Region of India G. Kishan Reddy and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi will have separate meetings with her on September 7.

The prime minister is scheduled to visit Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah in Delhi on Monday (September 05), Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Dargah Sharif and Ajmer (Ajmer Sharif Dargah) in Rajasthan on September 08.

Hasina, accompanied by representatives from business bodies of Bangladesh, will attend Bangladesh-India Business Forum on September 7.

On the same day, she will award the Mujib Scholarship, an initiative of the Bangladesh government, to the descendants of 200 Indian Armed Forces personnel who sacrificed their lives during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

Hasina is visiting India after three years since she last visited in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

The prime minister leads a high-level delegation which includes several ministers, advisers, state ministers, secretaries and senior officials.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Railways Minister Md. Nurul Islam Sujan, PM’s economic affairs adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman, PM’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque and State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak are among the delegation members.