Indian President arrives in Dhaka on 3-day state visit

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind has arrived in Dhaka on a 3-day visit to join the golden jubilee celebration of independence.

A special Indian Airlines plane carrying Kovind and his entourage members landed in Dhaka at 11:10am.

President Md Abdul Hamid along with his wife will receive his Indian counterpart at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Ram Nath Kovind is accompanied by the Indian first lady and their daughter, India's education minister and two parliament members alongside several senior officials.

Personnel drawn from the Bangladesh army, navy and air force is all set to offer him a guard of honour as part of the welcome ceremony at the airport from where he will be escorted to the National Martyrs' Memorial at Savar on the outskirts of the capital in a motorcade.

The Indian president will place wreaths in memory of Bangladesh's nine-month-long 1971 Liberation War martyrs at the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar.

He will also plant a sapling and sign the visitors' book there.

Later, he will visit Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum in the capital's Dhanmondi to pay homage to Bangladesh's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

On the same afternoon, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the foreign minister will pay a courtesy call on the Indian president.

Later, the Indian president will pay a courtesy call on the Bangladesh president at Bangabhaban on the same day. President Ram Nath Kovind will hand over a T-55 tank and MiG-29 warplane, which were used during the Liberation War, to President Hamid for preservation and display at the museum.

After that, the Indian president will attend a banquet to be hosted by President Hamid.

On the second day of the visit, the president of India will participate in the golden jubilee celebration of the Victory Day of Bangladesh at the National Parade Ground as the guest of honour.

In the afternoon, he will join a programme at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to pay respect and gratitude to the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and to celebrate the passion and joy of the victory. The president of Bangladesh, prime minister, speaker and other dignitaries will be present on the occasion.

On the third day of the visit, the Indian president will inaugurate and inspect the newly renovated part of Kali Temple in Dhaka's Ramna. He will leave Dhaka for Delhi at noon wrapping the three-day visit.

He will leave Dhaka for New Delhi on Friday (17 December) afternoon.

Though any memorandum of understanding (MoU) or agreement is unlikely to be signed during the visit, Bangladesh may raise some bilateral issues in top-level meetings with the Indian president, according to officials.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said, "Our discussion with India on bilateral issues continues. Those will be discussed more openly during the visit."

He, however, did not specify the issues to be talked about.

"The focus of the visit is ceremonial. Though no MoU or agreement would be signed during this visit, Bangladesh will raise various priority issues in bilateral talks," the minister added.

This is the maiden visit of President Ram Nath Kovind to Bangladesh after taking over as president of India.