Sushma Swaraj likely to meet Bangladesh PM during Dhaka visit

Dhaka, Oct 21: Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Bangladesh to attend the fourth Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting, reports in Bangladesh media said. According to reports, Ms Swaraj is also likely to meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Sunday, October 22. "The meeting is scheduled to take place at 6:30 pm at the Prime Minister’s official residence Ganabhaban," said a report in 'Dhaka Tribune'. According to diplomatic sources in Bangladesh capital, the JCC meeting would review the implementation and progress of decisions that were taken during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in April this year. This will be Ms Swaraj’s second visit to Bangladesh. The Indian foreign minister last visited the neigbouring country in 2014. Ms Swaraj is also likely to inaugurate a number of projects financed by India. During Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in April earlier this year, India and Bangladesh had inked nearly two dozen pacts in key areas of defence and civil nuclear cooperation. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had assured Ms Hasina of an “early solution” to the emotive Teesta water sharing issue, a pact on which has remained illusory for years. Prime Minister Modi had also tried to convince West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to accept the Teesta Water treaty as part of Government of India's international commitment first made in 1983. West Bengal Chief Minister has been insisting that the treaty should not harm her state's interest. Teesta is the fourth largest transboundary river shared between India and Bangladesh, and the water sharing issue does figure as a major election matter in Bangladesh. Ms Swaraj's visit also comes at a time when a large number of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have entered into Bangladesh. UNI