Amid NRC unease, Shringla to visit Dhaka

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 1

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will arrive in Dhaka on Monday in preparation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day mid-March visit to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh’s first President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Shringla was in Kabul on Sunday, the day the Taliban-US peace pact was signed in Doha, and met almost the entire government leadership in a show of solidarity by India.

Shringla is visiting Bangladesh at a time when there is both tension and bonhomie in ties. India and Bangladesh have been advancing cooperation in several areas, connectivity being the most important.

At the same time, there is unease in Dhaka over the NRC Assam and statements by BJP leaders that all infiltrators will be sent back to Bangladesh. Two Bangla Cabinet Ministers had cancelled their visits when the CAA\NRC agitation was at its peak.

Shringla is acutely familiar with Bangladesh, having served as High Commissioner and earlier helming the tortuous process of finalising the Indo-Bangla land boundary besides being involved in improving ties after the advent of the Sheikh Hasina government. During his Dhaka visit, the Foreign Secretary will discuss bilateral issues with his counterpart Masud Bin Momen and also call on PM Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

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New Delhi: A week after northeast Delhi riots, four more bodies were fished out from drains in Gokalpuri and Shiv Vihar on Sunday. Three bodies were found in two drains in Gokalpuri and one was found in a drain in Shiv Vihar, the police said.

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BOX SHAH

“Didi’s government is not allowing PM Narendra Modi to develop West Bengal. Give us just five years. We will turn Bengal into ‘sonar’ Bangla.

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With the Oppn sending notices, demanding discussion on the riots, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday said the priority should be given to the Union Budget as it was a constitutional responsibility.