Hasina, Modi reach Santiniketan

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina arrived at Santiniketan to attend the convocation of Visva Bharati University.

Hasina, who is on a two-day visit on the invitation of Prime Minister Modi to India, was received by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The two leaders will now inaugurate the Bangladesh Bhavan within the campus here, as a symbol of the cultural ties between the two countries.

The Bangladesh Bhavan features a museum that showcases Rabindranath Tagore's association with the country, the Liberation War of Bangladesh and Indo-Bangla relations.

It was built at a cost of Rs 25 crore, which was provided by the Bangladesh government.
A fund of Rs 10 crore would be given to help maintain the museum premises.

Reportedly, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will also be signed between Visva-Bharati and the Secondary and Higher Secondary Division of the education ministry of Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Hasina is also scheduled to visit the Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata, the ancestral home of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

As per reports, both Prime Ministers will likely hold bilateral meetings.

A formal meeting is expected to be conducted between the two Prime Ministers.

Prime Minister Hasina will return to Bangladesh on Saturday night.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Modi will proceed to Jharkhand's Sindri from Kolkata to lay the foundation stone of various projects of the Indian government and the state government.

Source: ANI