BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia reached New Delhi on Sunday on a weeklong official visit at the invitation of the Indian government.
A Jet Airways, carrying Khaleda and her entourage members, landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 12:15pm (Bangladesh time), party sources here said.
They said high officials of Indian External Affairs Ministry and Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi Mahbub Hasan Saleh and its other officials received Khaleda at the airport.
Earlier, Khaleda left Dhaka at 9:20am.
India is giving much importance to Khaleda’s tour as she is visiting the neighbouring country for the first time at the official invitation as the leader of the opposition.
“The visit is part of our ongoing engagement with a democratic and multiparty polity in Bangladesh. It would provide an opportunity to exchange views on all matters of mutual interest with a view to building upon the positive momentum in India-Bangladesh relations,” an official at the Indian external affairs ministry told Indian official news agency PTI.
During her tour, the opposition leader will have meetings with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and key leaders of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Bilateral issues like Teesta water sharing, Tipaimukh Dam project, border killing and trade deficit will be high on agenda during Khaleda’s meetings with the top Indian leaders.
According to party insiders, the visit of the party chief to India is very significant on two counts -- one for consolidating political relations between the Congress and the BNP and another for reducing the gap between the BNP and the people of India.
She is expected to return home on November 3.
Meanwhile, the BNP chief visited China for a week from October 14 at the invitation of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
During her stay in China, Khaleda had meetings with key leaders of the CPC and high government officials, including Chinese Vice President Xi Jingpin, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Chen Fengxiang.
Party sources said the opposition leader may soon visit some other countries like Turkey, Korea and some European and Middle East ones, to make the international community understand about the necessity of the caretaker government to oversee the next general election.
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