Jaishankar arrives today to plan joint celebrations

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar will sit today to finalize a plan to jointly celebrate the Bangabandhu's birth centenary and Bangladesh's 50th Independence Day, the 50th year of Dhaka-New Delhi diplomatic tie.
"Only 'celebration' will dominate the whole talks. Obviously when the two high-profile leaders or
Prime Ministers sit many issues could be discussed ranging from bi- lateral to regional or world issues," said a Foreign Ministry official.
However, Jaishankar will sit today (Thursday) to finalize the celebration issues and Indian good gesture to join the programme with Bangladesh as a great friend," he said.
Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar will arrive this (Thursday) morning by a special flight and sit with his Bangladesh counterpart Dr. AK Abdul Momen at 11:30am. They will jointly brief the media after the talks.
The Foreign Minister will host lunch in honor of his Indian counterpart at a city hotel.
Later they will sit at the State Guest House Padma at 12:15 to finalize the programme before they meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Indian Foreign Minister will leave Dhaka following the meeting, diplomatic sources said.
"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on March 26-27. Modi is likely to visit memorials of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Tungirapara, which is also the birthplace of the Father of the Nation," the Foreign Ministry official said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister expressed her gratitude to India and the Indian Army for their support during the 1971 liberation war and termed India as Bangladesh's true friend.
Meanwhile, to celebrate the life and legacies of iconic leader Bangabandhu, India plans to conduct a huge digital exhibition programme. It will get displayed in New Delhi, Chenni, Mumbai, Hydrabad, Bangaluru, Chandigar, Kolkata and other big commercial and important cities in India.
The FM level meeting will discuss the issue, a senior official of the Foreign Minister said.
Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned (jointly with Bangladesh government) a project over the Bangladesh's struggle for independence that resulted in the deaths of more than 3 million people and over 200,000 rapes.
 "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary will also be celebrated all over the world in line with the initiative of Unesco.
The history of Bangabandhu's long struggle and his great sacrifice for the nation and the people of Bangladesh will be projected before the world. India is willing to be a part of it," the official said.
Subsequently, the digital exhibition would be displayed in different locations in Bangladesh, the United Nations and would finally culminate at Kolkata in early 2022.
discuss the safety and security issues of Indian Prime Minister visit to Tungipara on March 26.
Meanwhile, Indian Premier Norendra Modi expressed his desire to attend a religious rally at Urakandi Mondir (a villeage under Tungipara), a Matua (lower caste) worship place that is the vote bank of Chabbis Pargana of West Bengal.
"Two countries this time may sign two instruments - one is for a special economic zone for India at Cox's Bazar and a pact to form a India-Bangladesh CEOs forum with IT sector as a priority area.
Both the instruments will be signed during the PM-level meeting, another senior official told this correspondent.
The Indian Prime Minister is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina on March 27.
All the pending issues and ongoing projects funded by Indian LoC would be discussed there.