The planned official visit of Indian foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra to Bangladesh has been postponed, said a diplomatic source on Thursday.
The visit, which will take place on a mutually convenient new date, is part of high-level exchanges between Bangladesh and India and to review progress in the two countries鈥� bilateral cooperation agenda, said the source.
The guests who were invited to attend the dinner with the Indian foreign secretary on April 20 also received a message on Thursday that says the visit 鈥榟as been postponed鈥�.
Though there was no official announcement from Dhaka and New Delhi regarding the visit, he was supposed to be in Dhaka on a brief visit on Saturday.
Apart from his meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Masud Bin Momen, the Indian foreign secretary was due to meet foreign minister Hasan Mahmud.
Diplomatic sources indicate that prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 visit to India is planned early July after the conclusion of the neighbouring country鈥檚 national election, which is the world鈥檚 largest democratic exercise, spanning seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with the vote count set for June 4.
Pre-election surveys suggest a strong showing for the coalition led by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, who is widely anticipated to secure re-election.
鈥楶rime minister鈥檚 (Sheikh Hasina) India visit will take place. However, it will take place after the election in India,鈥� Hasan Mahmud said recently.
He said that it was not yet discussed at the official level when the visit would exactly take place.
In January, Modi extended warm congratulations to prime minister Sheikh Hasina on her electoral victory, expressing hopes for the continued strengthening of the historically close ties between India and Bangladesh.
The last bilateral engagement between the two prime ministers occurred during the G-20 Leaders Summit in September 2023, where Bangladesh was the guest country.
Prime minister Narendra Modi is expected to extend invitations to South Asian and BIMSTEC country leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, fostering regional cooperation.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh-India foreign office consultations were held in New Delhi on November 24, 2023.
FOC is an institutional dialogue mechanism between the two foreign secretaries to review the entire gamut of bilateral relationships.
Both sides in bilateral forums usually discuss comprehensively a wide range of issues covering border and security, trade, commerce and connectivity, cooperation in water, power and energy sectors, people-to-people ties and development cooperation in Bangladesh.
The government of India in March extended foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra鈥檚 tenure by six months.
Kwatra assumed charge as India鈥檚 foreign secretary on May 1, 2022, and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988.