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Modi is visiting Dhaka at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
During the visit, the prime minister is expected to assuage Bangladesh’s concerns over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), sources said.
The CAA, which was notified on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities – Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian – who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, following persecution over their faith.
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Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan cancelled their visits to India in December over the prevailing situation following the passage of the new citizenship bill by Parliament.
Dhaka was also apparently upset following the rollout of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam even though India conveyed to it that the issue was an internal matter of the country.
“Updation of National Register of Citizens is a process that is entirely internal to India,” Shringla had said in an address in Dhaka.
“India assures Bangladesh that NRC will have no implications for the country and its people,” he had said.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Brussels this month to hold a summit meeting with the European Union has been postponed in view of the global spread of coronavirus.
On Modi’s visit to Bangladesh, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the prime minister will go to the neighbouring country to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh’s founder.