Shawdesh Desk:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached New Delhi on a four-day official visit to attend the India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday morning.

A VVIP flight (BG-2030) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her entourage members landed at Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi at 10:00am (Indian time).

A red carpet was rolled out for the Prime Minister.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her entourage members left Dhaka at 8:15am.

She will attend the WEF Country Strategy Dialogue on Bangladesh on October 3 and the WEF Closing Plenary on October 4, said sources at the Prime Minister’s Office.

As part of her first official engagement of the day, the Sheikh Hasina will participate as the chief guest in the Indian Economic Summit being organised by the WEF in the Indian capital.

Over 800 leaders from 40 countries will take part in the India Economic Summit 2019 to be held on October 3-4 in New Delhi.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will stay at Hotel Taj Mahal.

This is the first visit of the primer to India since the completion of the national elections in both Bangladesh and India.

On Friday (Oct 4), she will attend an interactive session with select CEOs of India and Inauguration of India-Bangladesh Business Forum (IBBF) at ITC Maurya and WEF Closing Plenary at Hotel Taj Palace. Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Heng Swee Keat will call on Sheikh Hasina on Friday evening.

During the visit, she will call on Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and will hold bilateral discussions with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on October 5.

The Prime Minister will join a bilateral meeting with her Indian counterpart at 11:30am and attend the official lunch at 1pm at Hyderabad House, and meet Indian President Kovind at 4:30pm at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

During the bilateral meeting, the two prime ministers will jointly launch some projects, while agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) are expected to be exchanged between the two sides.

In the morning, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will meet Sheikh Hasina at the place of her residence.

On Sunday, President of Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi and noted film director Shyam Benegal, who was assigned to make a Bangla film on the life and works of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, will separately meet the Prime Minister.

On October 6, Sheikh Hasina will leave Delhi for home at 8pm (local time) by a VVIP flight of Biman which will land in Dhaka at 11:00pm (BdST).