Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's visit to India may be delayed: officials
New Delhi: The much-anticipated visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India is likely to be delayed further, top Bangladeshi officials indicated in New Delhi.
"Both the prime ministers (Narendra Modi and Hasina) have been busy and she herself had been very busy with meetings and (WEF at) Davos. So, we have not finalised any date as of now," a source said.
Asked if the visit would be happening sometime in February as expected, he said, "We are still not sure about it. Maybe, we will having a meeting next week and work out on the dates."
During Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar's visit to Dhaka last month, Hasina's press secretary Ihsanul Karim had said she (Hasina) has plans to visit India and officials of the two countries would work out the schedule.
Hasina was earlier expected to leave for New Delhi on December 18 to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues with Modi, but the plan got postponed.
The postponement had come amid speculation in the media in Dhaka that it was not a suitable time to discuss Teesta water sharing issue given the preoccupation of the government post-demonetisation.
A source in the Prime Minister's Office in Dhaka and three Awami League policymakers had in December said the Teesta issue requires the consent of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is protesting the NDA's government's demonetisation move.
Since Mamata has overtly expressed her dissatisfaction, the Bangladesh administration, keeping everything in mind, realised that it was not a suitable time to discuss the Teesta issue, the Dhaka Tribune reported last month.
Hasina, early December had told reporters in Dhaka, "I am going to India, I am not going with any conditions... discussion is on for Teesta river water sharing and we are hopeful".
In October, Modi had met Hasina on the sidelines of BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit in Goa. At the invitation of Hasina, Modi visited Bangladesh in June 2015.
"We are at fortunate phase of our history and we hope there will be no obstacles to future solution... The horizon of bilateral relations has become a sunrise horizon," Akbar said at an event in Delhi on Monday.
A senior Bangladeshi official said, "We (India and Bangladesh) have to take note of each other's sensitivities and vulnerabilities and sustain dialogues with an open mind."
