On the invitation of His Majesty The King, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be in the country on a three-day state visit from April 18.

While in the country, the Bangladeshi Prime Minister will sign several Memoranda of Understanding and also attend the ground breaking ceremony of the Bangladesh embassy in Hejo, Thimphu. Bangladesh gave land to build the Bhutanese embassy building in Dhaka in 2014.

PM Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the three-day International Conference on Autism and Neuro Developmental Disorders on April 19.

During the Meet-the-Press session yesterday, Lyonchoen Tshering Tobgay said that PM Sheikh Hasina visiting Bhutan indicates the importance of the close relations between the countries.

Foreign minister Damcho Dorji said that Bhutan and Bangladesh traditionally have enjoyed close and friendly relations that started since 1971, when the latter won the liberation war and declared independence.

Bangladesh established diplomatic relations with Bhutan in 1973 and established its resident embassy in the country.

His Majesty The Fourth King visited Bangladesh in 1974, and since then the leaders from both the two countries have visited each other numerous times.

PM Sheikh Hasina visited Bhutan in 2009, 2010, and then in 2015 on a private visit. His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen visited Bangladesh in 2013, followed by Lyonchoen Tshering Tobgay’s visit in 2014.

“These visits are important because they will provide further impetus to the close ties of friendship and cooperation and understanding between the two countries,” the foreign minister said. “So we attach a lot of importance to this state visit.”

Bhutan and Bangladesh cooperate in areas such as agriculture, human resource development, cultural exchanges, and also air services besides the annual consultation meetings at the foreign secretary level,  the minister said.

Even at the regional level, we have talks about water resources management and recently trilateral cooperation in hydropower, he pointed out.

At the multilateral forum, the two countries have been supporting each other at every opportunity and Bhutan has been giving favourable consideration or support to Bangladesh at every election to many international organisations, the foreign minister said.

The President of Bangladesh visited the country last year.

Tshering Palden

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