DHAKA: India external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to have a 3-day official visit to Bangladesh from June 25.

The ministry made the disclosure on their website on Saturday evening.

Mentioning her tour as ‘a goodwill visit’ it said that she would stay in the country till June 27 with the invitation of her Bangladesh counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali.

Sources said this is her first ‘stand-alone’ visit abroad as the country’s external affairs minister and it reflects ‘the importance that India attaches to its bilateral relationship with Bangladesh, a close friend and neighbor’.

Earlier, she accompanied India newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his first foreign tour in Bhutan after reining in power.

Swaraj will hold discussions on bilateral issues with foreign minister Mahmood Ali.

She will also call on president Abdul Hamid and premier Sheikh Hasina.

The minister will also have engagement with think-tanks, chambers of commerce and industry, and cultural organizations.

India external affairs ministry says the visit will provide ‘further momentum to the close and friendly relationship between India and Bangladesh’.

BDST: 1845 HRS, JUN 21, 2014