PM Modi likely to meet Sheikh Hasina on Friday on the eve of G20 Summit
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of India, is visiting India as a G20 invitee and her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assumes significance ahead of the parliamentary election in her country in January 2024.
Over the past decade India has launched several cross-border connectivity and energy projects to boost the Bangladesh economy, complementing efforts undertaken by the Hasina government.
Bangladesh is emerging as a link to landlocked Northeast India. Japan, Bangladesh and India have formed a trilateral to connect Northeast India via Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal.
India is hopeful that Bangladesh will continue to balance its ties with India and China and clamp down against radicals and extremists, said experts.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov are visiting Dhaka after and before the G20 summit respectively in a show of support for the Hasina government.
Lavrov’s visit is important for Bangladesh, which is facing pressures over elections and alleged human rights violations from the US and other western powers, and Lavrov is expected to assure the government of its support. Bangladesh abstained from voting in two United Nations General Assembly resolutions on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Bangladesh is constructing its first nuclear power plants worth $12.65 billion with Russian support and has plans to import Russian oil.
India-Russia-Bangladesh have a trilateral civil nuclear partnership for the nuclear plant.
The French President will depart for Dhaka immediately after the G20 summit. In Bangladesh, he will continue to pursue France’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific region.
