Several world leaders, including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and heads of state and government from India, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives, are set to visit Bangladesh later this month to participate in the grand celebrations to mark the golden jubilee of the country’s independence from Pakistan. Prime Minister Rajapaksa and four heads of state and government from India, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives will be among the distinguished foreign guests to join the celebrations under separate schedules, Bangladesh government’s principal information officer Surath Kumar Sarkar told. Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari will be in Dhaka on a two-day tour from March 22 while Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering will be in the country from March 24 to March 25. Prime Minister Modi will arrive on March 26 on a two-day visit and will join the main Independence Day celebrations that also marks 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations. Bangladesh had originally planned grand celebrations for the 50th years of Independence and Bangabandhu’s birth centenary but the coronavirus pandemic forced the country to revise the plan on health grounds.

Source: The Nation March 13, 2021 15:00 UTC