DHAKA: Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal of India, arrived here in Bangladesh Thursday night on a three-day official visit at the invitation of foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali on the occasion of ‘Bhasha Divas’ falls on February 21.

She landed at Shahjalal International Airport by a flight of Air India at 8:50pm. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam welcomed her at the airport. 

The West Bengal Chief Minister was accompanied by West Bengal Minister of Urban Development Shri Firhad Hakim, West Bengal Minister of Tourism Shri Bratya Basu, Shri Deepak Adhikari MP, Ms Moonmoon Sen MParliament, Chief Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and other senior officials. 

Her delegation also includes eminent cultural, business and media personalities.

The West Bengal Chief Minister is scheduled to call on the President and Prime Minister of Bangladesh and attend a High Tea hosted by the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh.

Mamata Banerjee will attend the ‘Amar Ekushey Ujjyapan’ function at Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the Martyrs of the Language Movement, and will visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.

The Chief Minister’s other engagements include an address to a Business Meet, organized by the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) in association with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Indian Chambers of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata, as well as an interaction with cultural personalities of both India and Bangladesh.

She will also attend a reception hosted in her honour by the High Commissioner of India.

This is Mamata Banerjee’s first visit to Bangladesh after taking over as Chief Minister of West Bengal in May 2011.

She is scheduled to return home on February 21.

BDST: 2103 HRS, FEB 17, 2015