Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has arrived in Dhaka to lead the Indian delegation at the next round of India-Bangladesh Foreign Office Consultation (FOC). He arrived in Dhaka in an Indian Air Force aircraft around 8:30 am today.

This marks the first high-level official meeting between India and Bangladesh post political changeover in Bangladesh on August 5, this year.

Upon his arrival in Dhaka, Misri was welcomed by Bangladesh Foreign Ministry’s Director General (South Asia Division) Ishrat Jahan while Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma was present. This is Misri’s first visit to Bangladesh as the Indian Foreign Secretary.

According to the media briefing by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday, the Foreign Secretary will meet his counterpart in Dhaka, and there will be several other meetings during the visit. 

The FOC led by the Foreign Secretaries is a structured engagement between Bangladesh-India. The last annual FOC was held in New Delhi on November 24, 2023.

During the visit, the Indian Foreign secretary is expected to pay a courtesy call on Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Md Touhid Hossain. 

Earlier on Sunday, while addressing a seminar in Dhaka, Foreign Affair Adviser of Bangladesh Md Touhid Hossain said that Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is set to arrive in Dhaka on Monday for Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and India, where bilateral trade issues and other matters of mutual concern are expected to be discussed. He expressed optimism that Dhaka and New Delhi could move forward pragmatically and realistically to restore ties to a “completely normal” state.