Sonia to visit B'desh on July 25

Dhaka, Jul 7 (PTI) Congress President Sonia Gandhi will
visit Dhaka on July 25 when she is expected to receive a
special award from Bangladesh government on behalf of her late
mother-in-law Indira Gandhi for her contribution to the
liberation war of this country.
"Sonia Gandhi wears many hats. She is a family member of
Indira Gandhi who was our great friend during our war for
freedom, the President of Congress and the Chairperson of UPA.
We are very much looking forward to the visit of Sonia
Gandhi," Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told a media
conference here.
She said "we hope Sonia Gandhi will also attend a small
ceremony where we will confer an award on Indira Gandhi for
her contribution to our war of freedom."
Moni said Bangladesh is celebrating 40 years of
independence from Pakistan and late Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi's name figures on top of the list of foreign
dignitaries who contributed to the liberation.
"We will be happy that a member of the Gandhi family will
receive the award," she said.
Sonia Gandhi will come to Dhaka on July 25 at the
invitation of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
primarily to attend a conference on autistic children.
Bangladeshi officials also said the country was set to
name a major road of Dhaka after Indira Gandhi as part of a
government initiative to honour the country's foreign friends
who contributed to its 1971 emergence as an independent
nation.
The officials said Bangladesh has so far listed 500 "1971
foreign friends," 40 of them being Pakistanis, who would be
conferred with a special honour at a ceremony here on a
convenient date ahead of the 41st victory day on December 16.
The foreigners who are set to be honoured included former
US Senator Ted Kennedy and French author and politician Andre
Malraux.
A high-level national committee was constituted earlier
to prepare the list and a member of the body told PTI that
their initial list of 500 foreign friends included 226 Indians
and 40 Pakistanis.