Hasina, Modi, Mamata to meet at Shantiniketan Friday

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will meet at Shantiniketan in West Bengal on Friday.

They will meet at Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan at the inaugural ceremony of Bangladesh Bhaban.

There is no official confirmation that there will be formal talks between prime minister Hasina and Mamata on Teesta water sharing, though there are speculations.

As per her tentative programme schedule, prime minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave Dhaka for Kolkata at 8am on 25 May.

After her arrival at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport by a VVIP flight, Hasina and Modi will leave Kolkata for Bolpur subdivision in Birbhum by a helicopter to join the convocation of Visva Bharati University at 9am.

Visva Bharati Vice Chancellor Prof Sabuj Koli Sen will receive Sheikh Hasina and Modi, said an official.

Hasina and Modi will inaugurate the Bangladesh Bhaban.

Earlier, cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor said Bangladesh Bhaban will be a symbol of Bangladesh-India friendship.

He said it will turn into a centre point of practicing literature, art and culture of Bangladesh and India and for relevant research.

Hasina and Modi will hold a meeting at the Bangladesh Bhaban, according to her draft tour itinerary.

After attending the programme, Modi will depart for New Delhi while return to Kolkata by a helicopter.

From 4:45pm to 5:30pm, she will visit Jorashanko Thakur Bari in Kolkata, Rabindranath Tagore's ancestral home, which been turned into a museum dedicated to the life and works of the Nobel laureate.

On 26 May, prime minister Hasina will leave Kolkata for Asansole to receive an honorary D Litt degree to be conferred upon her by Kazi Nazrul University at its third convocation.

Hasina will also visit Netaji Museum.

She will leave Kolkata for Dhaka on Saturday evening. Bangladesh high commissioner in New Delhi Syed Moazzem Ali will see her off.