New Delhi: Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid arrived here today on a six-day official visit during which he will hold talks with Indian leadership with an aim to further strengthening the already close bilateral relations between the two countries.
It is the first-ever visit by a ceremonial Head of Bangladesh to India.
Hamid, accompanied by a high-level delegation, was received at the airport by Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh.
The Bangladesh President visited Rajghat in the afternoon and paid floral tributes at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi. Hamid will hold talks with President Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow and will also meet Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
He is scheduled to visit Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Ajmer, Jaipur, Kolkata and Santiniketan.
Mukherjee had paid a state visit to Bangladesh in March 2013.
Hamid's visit comes in the backdrop of India making efforts to go ahead with Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh. During his visit to Assam earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said his government will go ahead with the land-swap deal with Bangladesh for a permanent solution to the infiltration problem.
LBA implementation was agreed between previous UPA government and Bangladesh government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in September, 2011. Under the agreement, the incongruous Indo-Bangladesh border will be redrawn and made much straighter with each country transferring area under adverse possession and exchange 161 enclaves.
