PM Modi's Dhaka visit unlikely as coronavirus threat looms large

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka is highly unlikely amid concerns over the novel coronavirus threat that has claimed over 3,000 lives across the globe so far. The prime minister was among those several foreign dignitaries who were invited by Bangladesh to attend the birth centenary celebrations of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17. However, the inauguration programme will be held in a scaled-down manner, and foreign guests may not be in attendance.

The grand inaugural ceremony of the “Mujib Borsho,” or Mujib Year, which was scheduled to be held at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17 — and kickoff the year-long celebrations — will now be held at a later date, Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury was quoted as saying by the the Dhaka Tribune.

Kamal, chief coordinator of the national committee to implement Mujib Year celebrations, said on Sunday that all other programmes will be organised avoiding massive public gatherings.

"The re-scheduled programmes will be declared tomorrow (Monday) after a meeting of the committee," Kamal, a former principal secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

Bangladesh on Sunday reported three cases of coronavirus. Two persons brought the disease from Italy, infecting the third one on their return home, officials said.

The infections, the first reported cases in the country, have come four days after Dhaka restricted entry of the people from major coronavirus-prone countries without a virus-free medical certificate.

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