Indian President Ram Nath Kovind has arrived in Dhaka in his maiden tour on a 3-day visit to join the golden jubilee celebration of independence.

A special Indian Airlines plane carrying Kovind and his entourage members landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:10 am on Wednesday.

President Md Abdul Hamid along with his wife received his Indian counterpart at the airport.

Ram Nath Kovind is accompanied by the Indian first lady and their daughter, India’s education minister and two parliament members alongside several senior officials.

The Indian President will place wreaths in memory of Bangladesh’s nine-month-long 1971 Liberation War martyrs at the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar, plant a sapling and sign the visitors’ book there.

Later, he will visit Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum in the capital’s Dhanmondi area to pay homage to the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while Bangladesh simultaneously celebrates his birth centenary and the golden jubilee of independence.

On the same afternoon, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would pay a courtesy call on the Indian President at his suit in Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.

President Md Abdul Hamid will host a banquet in his honor to be joined by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Bangabhaban in the evening after talks with his counterpart.

On the second day of the visit, the Indian President will join as the ‘Guest of Honor’ at the National Parade Ground on December 16 to mark the golden jubilee of the Victory Day of Bangladesh.

In the afternoon, Ram Nath Kovind will take part in a function titled ‘Great Victory Heroes’ in the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to pay respect to Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation and to celebrate the joy of victory.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker and other dignitaries will attend the event.

On the third day on December 17, the Indian President is expected to inaugurate and inspect the newly renovated section of Kali Temple. He will leave Dhaka for New Delhi in the afternoon.

ARR