<div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as the prime minister of India for a third consecutive term today evening.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Top leaders from Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius, and Seychelles are also expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Modi. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The event will witness a record presence of over 8,000 dignitaries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The leaders will also attend a banquet hosted by President Smt. Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the same evening.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Marking the oath-taking ceremony, the New Delhi has been put under a stringent multi-layered security measures aimed at ensuring safety in and out of the Rashtrapati Bhavan during the event.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier, a special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Bangladesh premier and her entourage members landed at the Palam Air Force Station, the VVIP airport, here at 11:51 am (local time) yesterday after around one and a half hour fly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Prime Minister was received by Secretary (CPV and OIA) of Indian External Affairs Ministry Muktesh Pardeshi, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma, and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Md. Mustafizur Rahman at the Palam airport.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During her stay in New Delhi, Sheikh Hasina will hold a tete-a-tete (one-to-one meeting) with Narendra Modi after joining the oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhaban at 7.20pm today.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later, she will attend the state dinner hosted by the Indian president.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sheikh Hasina joined a dinner hosted by the Bangladesh High Commissioner to India at Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi yesterday evening.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave New Delhi for Dhaka at 5pm (New Delhi time) on Monday and to reach Dhaka at 8pm (BD time) the same day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier on Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited his Bangladesh counterpart to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his government during a conversation over telephone. Sheikh Hasina accepted the invitation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Modi will take oath on June 9 as the BJP-led NDA won 293 seats while the opposition INDIA bloc secured 234 seats in the 18th Lok Sabha elections.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Bangladesh prime minister was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Modi, reflecting the warmth and personal rapport between the two leaders.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier, Sheikh Hasina congratulated Narendra Modi on the resounding victory of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha election.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"As the leader of the largest democracy in the world, you carry the hopes and aspirations of the people of India," she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Modi received a congratulatory telephone call from Sheikh Hasina for the victory of BJP led NDA, according to the Press Information Bureau of India.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Modi thanked Sheikh Hasina for her warm wishes following his election victory.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"India and Bangladesh share historic relations, which have seen unprecedented growth in the last decade," Modi said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a message shared on X, Modi said he looks forward to working together to further strengthen the people-centric partnership between Bangladesh and India.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The two leaders pledged to continue working together to further deepen the historic and close ties under the renewed mandate towards achieving Viksit Bharat 2047 and Smart Bangladesh 2041.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>