Preparations for Modi's visit underway

The details of the programmes and venues are being finalised for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit to Bangladesh in the first week of June, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali said yesterday, hoping that the long-pending Teesta river water sharing deal would be signed during his trip.

Sources said Modi's visit was most likely to take place between June 5 and 10.

The Teesta deal was set to be inked during then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011 but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee.

Addressing an interaction organised by the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents in New Delhi, Muazzem Ali noted that Indian central government had briefed Bangladesh on the internal discussions it was having with West Bengal's government.