Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will hold crucial talks with Bangladeshi officials during a two day visit starting Monday to discuss among other things matters to be taken up during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's planned visit to this country.
Rao, who is set to arrive here on Monday, is expected to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and other Bangladesh leaders during her stay here.
The visit comes ahead of Singh's planned Dhaka visit that is expected in a few months and bilateral issues like water sharing are expected to be discussed during the Foreign Secretary level talks.
"All aspects of bilateral relations as well as sub-regional issues will be discussed during the (foreign secretary level) consultations," as Rao was coming at the invitation of her Bangladesh counterpart Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, a foreign ministry statement said.
The visit, it said, would provide the two sides with an opportunity to take stock of the progress in implementing decisions taken during Hasina's India visit in January 2010.
The statement said the visit was also expected to chart the way forward and to discuss issues to further expand the areas of bilateral, regional and sub-regional cooperation for the mutual benefits of the two friendly countries.
Officials familiar with the process at foreign offices in Dhaka and New Delhi said Rao's visit was expected to find ways to ensure some tangible outcome during the Indian Prime Minister's upcoming visit, on areas including water sharing on common rivers and cross-border frontiers issues.
"The issues relating to Dr Singh's official visit to Bangladesh will dominate the talks between the two foreign secretaries," a senior official at the foreign ministry in Dhaka said.
He said the two foreign secretaries would particularly review the implementation process of the MoUs signed between the two countries during Hasina's landmark New Delhi visit.
A three-member Bangladesh delegation flew to New Delhi today to finalise the draft on the proposed water sharing deal on the Teesta and Feni rivers as the two countries are expected to sign the crucial agreement during or ahead of Singh's Dhaka tour.
Water resource secretary Sheikh Wahiduzzaman led the delegation to New Delhi to invite India's water resource minister Salman Khurshid for the minister-level joint river commission talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Ramesh Chandra Sen in Dhaka.
Officials said the two countries were also expected to witness a tangible outcome in resolving the cross-border enclave issues during the Indian Prime Minister's visit along with resolution of several outstanding bilateral matters.