PM Modi to travel to Bangladesh on March 17

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to Dhaka on March 17 in the midst of rising concerns in Bangladesh over India's new citizenship law and the proposed NRC. PM Modi is visiting Dhaka at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

During the visit, the prime minister is expected to assuage Bangladesh's concerns over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), sources said. The CAA, which was notified on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities -- Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian -- who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, following persecution over their faith.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan cancelled their visits to India in December over the prevailing situation following the passage of the new citizenship bill by Parliament. Dhaka was also apparently upset following the rollout of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam even though India conveyed to it that the issue was an internal matter of the country.

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Prime Minister Modi's visit to Brussels this month to hold a summit meeting with the European Union has been postponed in view of the global spread of coronavirus. On PM Modi's visit to Bangladesh, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the prime minister will go to the neighbouring country to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh's founder.

Foreign Secretary on NRC in Bangladesh

India on Monday assured Bangladesh that the updation of the National Register of Citizens will have no implications for its people, asserting that it is a process that is entirely internal to the country. Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan canceled their visits to India in December over the prevailing situation following the passage of the new citizenship bill.

Bangladesh was also apparently upset following the roll out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam even though India conveyed to it that the issue was an internal matter of the country. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had taken up the issue of NRC with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their bilateral meeting in New York in September.

"Updation of National Register of Citizens is a process that is entirely internal to India," Foreign Secretary Shringla said on Monday. "India assures Bangladesh that NRC will have no implications for the country and its people," he said at a seminar 'Bangladesh & India: A Promising Future' held in Dhaka.

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