President Abdul Hamid will attend the programmes on March 17, 22 and 26 while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 17,  19, 22, 24 and 26. Heads of the government or state of different countries will join the programmes as guests.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen shared the preparation of the celebrations at a press conference held at Foreign Service Academy on Monday.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen were also present.

Bangladesh eyes stronger relations with the external world through celebrating the 50 years of Independence amid presence of global leaders – both in person and virtually.

Dr Momen said President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will join the celebrations in person.

The Foreign Minister said President of China Xi Jinping will send a video message marking the celebrations and a counselor, who is above the Minister in rank, may come with the message.

Also Read: 50 Years of Independence: Dhaka to welcome global leaders

Dr Momen said France President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will send video messages.

The Foreign Minister said France President and Canadian Prime Minister will also send video messages marking the celebrations.

President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will arrive on March 17 on a two-day visit and will attend the celebrations at Parade Grounds in the city.

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa will arrive in Dhaka on March 19 to join the celebrations while President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari will be here on March 22.

Also Read: Global leaders to join Bangladesh's carnival on Mar 17-26: FM

Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering will arrive in Dhaka on March 24 while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive on March 26.

Modi will visit places outside Dhaka though other three South Asian leaders will have engagements in Dhaka only.

The Indian Prime Minister will visit Bangabandhu Memorial in Tungipara to pay respect to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The five leaders are likely to visit the National Mausoleum at Savar, Dhanmondi 32 and will attend the main programme at Parade Grounds.

Maldives

The Maldives President will lead a 27- member entourage during the tour, said the Foreign Minister.

It is expected that the existing friendly relations between the two countries will be strengthened further and a new horizon of bilateral ties will be opened during the visit of the Maldivian President, he added.

Sri Lanka

A bilateral meeting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa will be held on March 20.

Mutual cooperation on various bilateral issues, including trade, investment, agriculture, coastal vessel movement, education and ICT will get the focus at the meeting, said Dr Momen.

Nepal

President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari will meet President Abdul Hamid on March 22 evening and discuss the issues of bilateral interest, said Momen adding that a number of agreements and MoUs are expected to be signed between the two countries in presence of the two presidents.

Tourism, cultural ties and trade relations are expected to get a boost between the two nations with the signing of the agreements and MoUs, he said.

Bhutan

The issues of bilateral interest are likely to be discussed during Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering’s visit to Bangladesh.

The visit will be considered as an important chapter of bilateral relations between the two countries, said Dr Momen.

India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a progrmme marking the 50 years of independence of Bangladesh at Parade Ground on March 26 at ‘Guest of Honour’, said the Foreign Minister.

Modi will visit Tungipara in Gopalganj on March 27 to pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Indian Prime Minister expressed his interest to visit two temples in Satkhira and Gopalganj districts and exchange views with local people, said Momen.

A one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and delegation-level bilateral meeting  are scheduled to be held on March 27, taking forward the relations between the two countries keeping the celebratory year in focus.

Some Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) are likely to be signed between the two countries and a number of projects are likely to be inaugurated in presence of the two prime ministers, said the Foreign Minister.

Earlier at the December-17 virtual meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina thanked her Indian counterpart for accepting her invitation to visit Bangladesh in person in March 2021 to join the celebrations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence and 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations.

Bangladesh and India described the year 2021 as historic in their bilateral relations as they would be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Liberation War and the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh.