National security adviser Shivshankar Menon paid an unscheduled visit to the Bangladesh capital, his second within a week to review the last-minute preparations for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s September 6-7 visit here. Official sources said Menon was in Dhaka for a few hours on Sundayto review the latest developments linked to Singh’s visit.
“Mr Menon held meetings with water resources minister Ramesh Sen and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s foreign affairs adviser Gawher Rizvi and economic affairs adviser Mashiur Rahman,” a source told PTI without elaborating.
The source said Menon represented Indian water resource minister P K Bansal in the meeting with Sen, whose counterpart is expected in Dhaka ahead of Singh’s visit, as the two countries are set to ink a deal on sharing of waters of Teesta river coinciding with the meeting of their Prime Ministers.
Earlier, the NSA had come to Dhaka on August 28 on a two-day tour and held extensive talks with Bangladeshi leaders, including Hasina, to fine tune agreements, MoUs and protocols that are expected to be signed during Singh’s visit. The issues discussed included connectivity, trade, power, border, water, security and culture.
In a related development, Indian security officials on Sunday held extensive meetings with their Bangladesh counterparts at the Prime Minister’s office on issues related to Singh’s security during his tour, officials said.
“They held long meetings and reviewed the security arrangements,” an Indian High Commission spokesman told PTI.
