Bangladesh FM’s India trip likely in April, first since Tarique Rahman took power

Bangladesh foreign minister Khalilur Rahman is expected to make a brief visit to the Indian capital next month – the first since the new Tarique Rahman government came to power in Dhaka – as the two countries take forward their efforts to normalise relations after a period of unprecedented strain, people familiar with the matter said.
Rahman, the former National Security Adviser in the interim setup led by Muhammad Yunus and a surprise inclusion in Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s cabinet, is expected to make a stopover in New Delhi on April 8 while travelling to Mauritius for the Indian Ocean Conference, the people said on condition of anonymity.
Indian high commissioner Pranay Verma met Rahman in Dhaka last month and extended an invitation from external affairs minister S Jaishankar to visit India at an early date, reflecting New Delhi’s interest in revitalising ties after the strains witnessed during the term of the caretaker administration.
There has been no official word from Dhaka on Prime Minister Rahman’s first foreign trip, though the people said he is unlikely to make India or China the destination for such a visit as part of the new Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government’s desire to signal that its foreign policy will not favour any regional power.