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Sushma Swaraj arrives today

Land boundary, Teesta, transit likely on agenda

Diplomatic Correspondent
India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrives in Dhaka today on a three-day official visit.
In the first visit of a cabinet member of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India, she is likely assure Dhaka that New Delhi is committed to fulfilling the deals and agreements the two neighbours reached since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in 2010. "This is Swaraj's first visit abroad as the external affairs minister. It reflects the importance India attaches to its bilateral relations with Bangladesh, a close friend and neighbour,” said the spokesperson of the external affairs ministry in a statement.
Swaraj is scheduled to meet President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her Bangladeshi counterpart AH Mahmood Ali and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Diplomatic sources said Swaraj would carry a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi inviting Sheikh Hasina to visit India between October and January.
Dhaka will press for early inking of the interim agreement on sharing of Teesta waters and ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA). New Delhi, however, is expected to come up with fresh proposals for road and railway transit through Bangladesh, according to sources.
The previous Congress government failed to ratify the LBA and sign the Teesta water sharing deal with Bangladesh due to opposition from the BJP, Trinamool Congress and
Asom Gana Parishad.
In a significant move ahead of Swaraj's visit, Dhaka has announced that it will allow India to ferry food grains to the landlocked north-eastern Indian states using Bangladesh's territory and infrastructure free of charges or fees.
As Modi has not picked Bangladesh for his first official visit abroad, he is sending Swaraj to convey a special message to Dhaka that the BJP government would work closely with the Awami League government, said diplomatic sources.
According to her schedule, Swaraj will arrive in Dhaka at 10:30pm today on a special plane.
She will also give a lecture on Bangladesh-India relations at an event of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies and have engagements with thinktanks, chambers of commerce and industries and cultural organisations.
She is expected to meet Leader of the Opposition Raushan Ershad prior to departure at 11:30am on Friday.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh foreign ministry has decided not to brief the
press or issue any release during or after the visit of the Indian minister.
The Indian side has asked Bangladesh to convey the message to media that no one would be allowed to ask Swaraj any questions during her stay in Dhaka, a senior foreign ministry official told The Daily Star seeking anonymity.
However, the Indian High Commission yesterday announced that it would hold a media briefing at the Surma Hall of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel at 4:30pm tomorrow.
MEETING WITH KHALEDA
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will meet Sushma Swaraj on Friday morning.
Khaleda Zia's press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan confirmed this at a press conference last night.
The venue and the exact time will be announced later, he said.
"The [BNP] chairperson welcomes the visit of the external affairs minister of India's new government, saying that this tour would further expedite the new window of people-to-people relations between the two countries," Maruf added.