During the day-long visit, S Jaishankar will also call upon Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Bangladesh on Thursday as the two countries celebrate the 50th year of friendly ties. The visit is expected to set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Bangladesh.

Announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jaishankar will be visiting Dhaka at the invitation of Foreign Minister of Bangladesh AK Momen. In addition to meeting his Bangladeshi counterpart, the External Affairs Minister will also call on Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.

The External Affairs Minister's visit to Bangladesh, which follows on the PM-level Virtual Summit between the two countries on December 17 last year, "will also provide an opportunity to take stock of the progress in bilateral relations," the MEA said.

The Joint Statement issued after the India-Bangladesh Virtual Summit between the two Prime Ministers had mentioned that Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accepting her invitation to visit Bangladesh in March 2021.

Prime Minister Modi will join the celebrations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s Independence being observed as Muji Borsho and 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations.

In January, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, Masud Bin Momen paid a three-day visit to India during which he co-chaired foreign office consultations along with his Indian counterpart Harsh Vardhan Shringla.