Hasina to skip Bengal visit

West Bengal may be off Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas itinerary,but New Delhi will give her enough reason to go back to Dhaka with a smile.

West Bengal may be off Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas itinerary,but New Delhi will give her enough reason to go back to Dhaka with a smile. The well-rounded Indian package will include US $500 million worth of credit to build infrastructure and connectivity to Bhutan and Nepal cutting through India.

Hasina,who will be here for a three-day visit from January 11,had to drop the West Bengal leg of the tour where she was planning to go on January 13. One of the primary reasons is that West Bengal does not have a full-time Governor after Gopal Krishna Gandhi completed his term. In the absence of an occupant in Raj Bhavan,there was a minor diplomatic protocol issue there. She was also due to meet Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and ailing CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu.

Another reason was the turmoil in Visva Bharati University in Shantiniketan,which she was supposed to visit. There have been protests against the present Vice-Chancellor who has been accused of corruption and a departmental probe is on.

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In these circumstances,the Indian government didnt want the momentum built during the visit to be lost and wanted Hasina to present her achievements before her people. She is expected to address Bangladesh Parliament and talk about her achievements from the India visit.

The credit lines worth US $500 million from India are meant mainly for building infrastructure,including bridges over Teesta and Meghna rivers,improve railway and supply locomotives.

Hasina will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on January 11 and 12 before going to Ajmer Sharif. She will return to Delhi on January 13 and leave for Dhaka.

Three terror-related pacts,including one on the transfer of sentenced persons,is also expected to be signed. This particular pact will help India get access to ULFA leader Anup Chetia,who is in a Bangaldeshi prison for over a decade now. The other two pacts will include a mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and on combating international terrorism,organised crime and drug trafficking.

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New Delhi will also give concessions on connectivity between Nepal-Bangladesh and Bhutan-Bangladesh unilaterally,without any quid pro quo,said sources. Though India will still ask for getting access to the Chittagong port,that wont be set as a pre-condition for giving access to Bangladesh.