No official announcement yet over any Modi visit to Dhaka:FM

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Saturday said there is no official announcement yet over Indian Prime minister-elect Narendra Modi’s any visit to Dhaka but it surely wants to see such a tour. “We don’t know about it (Modi’s visit) yet. Let it be done first. Let him take oath first. We want to see that he pays a visit here,” he told reporters at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Minister said everything would take place and everything would be discussed with India gradually. Earlier, Indian daily Business Standard reported that Modi’s first official visit as head of government will likely be to Dhaka, where he is expected to sign the much-awaited Teesta water-sharing agreement with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The issue was discussed at length during Modi’s telephonic conversation with Hasina, who not only requested Modi to make Bangladesh his first foreign destination as prime minister, but to also consider Dhaka his “second home”, said the report. Responding to another question, Mahmood Ali said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Japan visit was fixed much earlier and that is why Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will represent Bangladesh in the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi, according to UNB.