New Delhi: Describing the much-talked-about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit ‘not an ordinary’ one, India on Wednesday said the visit will bring the two countries even closer with a better friendship lending ‘new dimensions’ to the growing ties.

“This is not an ordinary visit. It’ll be something which will take the relations to a new height,” an Indian top diplomat who looks after India’s relations with Bangladesh, Sripriya Ranganathan, told UNB at the Ministry of External Affairs. 

Sripriya who is heading Bangladesh-Myanmar wing at the Ministry of External Affairs of India, said there is ‘no scope’ of getting disappointed for either side of the two countries on the outcome of the visit though there is no good news yet on Teesta issue.  

Though it is clear that there is no required internal consensus on Teesta issue yet another Indian diplomat told UNB that anything can happen at the last moment in South Asian countries. 

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has invited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the dinner he is hosting for Hasina which is seen as an effort to break the ice on Teesta.

Mamata will also meet Bangladesh Prime Minister in New Delhi, diplomatic sources said adding that it will not be surprising if anything positive happens at the last moment. 

When Sripriya’s attention was drawn to Teesta expectation, she said, “India-Bangladesh relations are not just about Teesta.”

External Affairs Joint Secretary, Bangladesh and Myanmar desk, Sripriya said they are still working on overcoming ‘internal difficulties’ to resolve the Teesta water-sharing issue.  “You all know in our system we need to take the state government into confidence.”

On defence cooperation, Sripriya said she does not have yet enough clarity what is exactly going to be signed.

The diplomat, however, said the existing defence cooperation between the two countries will now be in the written form in on document.

She said whatever will be signed - MoUs and agreements – will go to Indian cabinet and are yet to be finalised. “We’re still, in a sense, not completely closed the list of (deals and MoUs).”

The diplomat said there are some very ‘constructive and progressive’ MoUs in a number of areas.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrives here on Friday morning on a four-day visit which will, both sides say, yield ‘satisfying’ outcomes.

New Delhi is attaching a ‘lot of importance’ to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit, he says.

Talking to a visiting media delegation, including the UNB representative, Spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said they hoped the visit would pave the way for greater friendship between the countries. “It’s a very, very important visit for the two countries."

The eight-member media delegation comprising editors and senior reporters is visiting New Delhi at the invitation of the External Affairs Ministry ahead of the Prime Minister’s four-day visit.

Indian officials said Bangladesh and India have one of the most satisfying and positive relationships. 

They said there will be a very good event on business front where around 500 businesspeople from both sides will participate and interact with each other. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will attend it.

An official here said over the last seven years nothing has been done for any ‘exclusive interest’ of India at the cost of other country (Bangladesh) in terms of relations between the two countries. 

During the visit, the two countries expect to sign over 30 agreements and memorandum of understanding including cyber security, technology, nuclear power, science, and defence.

The Prime Minister along with her entourage is scheduled to leave Dhaka by a Biman VVIP flight on Friday morning.

Indian Minister of State, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo and Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi Syed Muazzem Ali will receive her at Air Force Station, Palam, New Delhi, according to her tentative schedule.

She will be staying at Rastrapati Bhaban as a guest of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

The Prime Minister, according to the Foreign Ministry here, will hold official talks with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi on April 8.

Any ‘institutional arrangement’ (on defence cooperation) that the two countries will conclude will only be in close cooperation that the two countries currently enjoy in this particular area, officials said.

This visit comes seven years after Sheikh Hasina’s previous visit to India in January 2010 and almost two years after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to Bangladesh in June 2015.

The two countries, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, had indicated a desire to make the relations multidimensional through unveiling a joint declaration ‘Notun Projonmo - Nayi Disha’.