After a gap of seven years, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on a four day trip to India to strengthen bilateral ties and sign agreements including in key areas of civil nuclear cooperation and defence. Hasina is expected to hold wide-ranging talks with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Saturday. India will also be lending a credit of USD 500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies.

A joint statement issued by the two countries stated that the upcoming visit would expand the cordial and cooperative relationship between India and Bangladesh and build on the strong ties of friendship and trust between the two leaders.

Hasina will also meet President  Pranab Mukherjee and opposition leader Sonia Gandhi. The trip also includes a visit to Ajmer on Sunday and meeting with Indian business leaders on Monday.

She will also attend a function at Manekshaw Centre to pay respects to Indian Armed Forces members who laid down their lives in Bangladesh’s War of Liberation in 1971. This reciprocal visit by the Bangladesh PM is expected to take  the Dhaka-New Delhi “historic relations” to a new height and enable cooperation  in various sectors including trade and commerce, economy and connectivity.

Modi and Hasina will talk about prominent issues like combating terrorism, containing radicalism and enhancing security cooperation between the two countries. This is Hasina's first bilateral visit to India in her current term as Prime Minister and she is also expected to talk about the Teesta Pact.

Liberation War Affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Law Minister Anisul Haque, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, the Premier’s Economic Affairs Advisor Moshiour Rahman and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam are accompanying Hasina for the visit.