Abe\\\'s \\\'milestone\\\' visit awaited

Bangladesh is set to welcome a Japanese Prime Minister after 14 years. Shinzo Abe will arrive in Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) International Airport at about 1pm. His wife Akie Abe will accompany him. Red carpet will be rolled out and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lead a rousing reception to him beginning with a guard of honour. Abe’s visit comes just three months after Hasina’s Tokyo visit when both leaders launched a ‘comprehensive partnership’. Japan is the largest aid donor of Bangladesh. Tokyo has alluded to ‘political and economic’ interests in Bangladesh. Its ambassador in Dhaka Shiro Sadoshima had said Bangladesh along with Myanmar occupies the ‘lynchpin position’ in its grand design to combine the two oceanic regions –Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean – for more geo-political space to boost the Japanese economy. Japan's major interest is to seek Bangladesh support for its candidature for the non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga hoped that Abe’s milestone visit would pave the way to expansion of Japanese trade and investment in Bangladesh. On the eve of the visit, Suga said they hoped the visit would ‘commence the start of a comprehensive partnership between Japan and Bangladesh, in line with an agreement reached between Abe and Prime Minister Hasina in May’. The Hasina-Abe joint comminique about their May meeting outlined engagements in three specific areas – cooperation toward attaining global peace and stability, economic cooperation leading towards the promotion of mutual interest and regional prosperity, and promotion of cultural and people to people exchanges. Both leaders will also issue a joint statement detailing further engagements after their summit meeting in Dhaka on Saturday, according to a news agency.