Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday termed it “extraordinary and historic” that five heads of state and government would join Bangladesh’s independence golden jubilee and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary celebrations despite coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s a historic event for Bangladesh as five heads of state and government never visited Bangladesh without any summit within a time span of 10 days,” the foreign minister at the curtain raiser press briefing ahead of the 10-day celebration from March 17.
Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed will be the first top foreign dignitary to arrive on a three-day Bangladesh visit on March 17.
He will be followed by Sri Lankan’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who will arrive on a two-day tour from March 19.
Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari will be in Dhaka on a two-day tour from March 22 while Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering will be in Dhaka on March 24 and 25.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive on March 26 for a two-day visit, his first to any foreign nation during the pandemic.
“This is a very unusual time due to Covid, but heads of state and government of our neighbouring countries are coming here to show their tribute to our Father of the Nation,” the foreign minister said.
All the foreign leaders would visit the National Memorial in Savar to pay homage to the independence martyrs, Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi 32 to pay tribute to Bangladesh’s founding father, watch special military parades and join state banquets.
Apart from them, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihida Suga and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau and some high-level leaders of different countries and international organizations said they would send video messages during the celebration titled “Mujib Chironton (Mujib is eternal)”.
Indian PM Modi’s visit would be an extended one which would take him to three places outside Dhaka - Bangabandhu shrine in Tungipara, and two Hindu temples— one in Gopalganj and the other in Satkhira.
The temples are places of worship, particularly of the Hindu Matua community, a large part of them being residents of India’s West Bengal state.
The foreign minister said all five South Asian leaders would hold talk with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He is also expecting to sign at least three MoUs with India during the visit.
Those are not finalised yet, he said, adding that those are related to disaster management and cooperation between some institutions of both the countries.
