Shawdesh Desk;

Foreign minister Hasan Mahmud on Monday met with Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck at his place of residence in Dhaka.

Both sides expressed satisfaction at the current excellent level of cooperation between the two countries.

They agreed to enhance cooperation in the areas of trade and commerce, connectivity, power, agriculture, education, culture, and people to people contact.

The Bhutanese king arrived in Dhaka on Monday morning.

This is the first state visit by any foreign dignitary since the formation of the new government after the January 7 national election.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and first lady received the king and his delegation members who arrived in Dhaka at 10:00am by a special flight.

Bhutan was the first country to recognise the newly independent Bangladesh on December 6 in 1971 when the 3rd King of Bhutan sent a message of recognition by telegram.

Since then Bangladesh and Bhutan share a special multidimensional bilateral relationship. Immediately after the independence, the Bhutanese government took initiative to establish diplomatic relations with Bangladesh and, consequently, formal diplomatic relations was established on 12 April 1973.