India says Doval's Dhaka tour part of high-level exchange of visits

India has said their National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's recent visit to Bangladesh was part of a high-level exchange of visits between the two neighbouring countries.

"Bangladesh is a very close neighbour for us. It underwent general elections recently. It is a routine matter for countries to have exchange high-level visits, especially with a close neighbour. The visit of National Security Advisor was in that context," said Spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal at a weekly briefing on Thursday.

Doval met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to her.

On February 7, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud had a conversation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi.

Hasan, on a visit to India, also met with Doval.

The two countries talked about development partnership, defence and security, said the MEA spokesperson.

"We also talked about several other aspects of our engagement; economy, trade, people to people; also, as to how both the countries can synergise their efforts as we move forward on Viksit Bharat 2047, and Bangladesh on their route of Smart Bangladesh 2041," he said.

FM Hasan is scheduled to meet the Indian President and hold a meeting with India’s Commerce Minister on Friday.

He will then return to Dhaka Friday night after attending events in Kolkata.