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Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud is scheduled to leave for New Delhi, India on February 7 - the first bilateral visit by the minister after his appointment - to further strengthen Bangladesh-India relations.
"It's likely to be a three-day visit," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday, noting that the agenda of the visit is yet to be finalised.
The Foreign Minister said he will be visiting the country at the invitation of Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.
Asked whether he will have a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, Mahmud said, "It is too early to say."
Jaishankar, earlier, invited his Bangladesh counterpart Dr Hasan Mahmud to visit New Delhi at a mutually convenient time.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma extended the invitation on behalf of the Indian External Affairs Minister on Monday.
The Foreign Minister accepted the invitation and told him that he would visit Delhi soon.
Mahmud was scheduled to embark on a multilateral tour to Uganda last night. After two hours, he came to know that the flight will not depart due to fog and poor visibility. The Foreign Minister was scheduled to hold a meeting on the sidelines of NAM Summit today.
The meeting with the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka marked Hasan Mahmud's first diplomatic engagement since assuming the office of foreign minister.
He noted the successful holding of the 12th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh on January 7, which was free, fair and participatory, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also noted that international elections observers and media who visited Dhaka to cover elections expressed their satisfaction over the election process.
'TIB giving weapon'
Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said informed quarters have questioned whether Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) published its report on the January 7 election in an effort to "give weapon" to anti-election and anti-democratic forces.
"It seems that there is a similarity in terms of language between what BNP says and what TIB is saying. It is our expectation that TIB will not work as a supportive force for the anti-election and anti-democratic forces," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Foreign Minister hoped that TIB will not turn into "a spokesperson for a group" and uphold its reputation without deviating from its neutral position.
The Awami League joint general secretary said he received several phone calls with questions about the TIB report.
Though TIB was supposed to do research on issues, in most cases they do not do any research, Hasan Mahmud claimed.
The Foreign Minister said the election was held in a festive atmosphere and international observers from the US, European Union, Commonwealth, OIC and others described it as "free and fair."
He said it seems TIB came up with its report with refined remarks made by BNP leaders.
Hasan Mahmud said the Election Commission demonstrated a strong role with strict imposition of laws including cancellation of AL candidates and other measures.
"There was no appreciation of EC efforts in the TIB report," he said.
"The 12th parliamentary election was a one-sided one that was staged to appear competitive," Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has said in its report.
"It is an ominous sign regarding the future of democracy and democratic elections in Bangladesh," said TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman at a press conference to share the findings of the anti-corruption watchdog's study titled "The 12th Parliament Election Process Tracking."
