Pranab to visit to Dhaka for Tagore 150th birth anniv closing ceremny

New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee of India will visit Dhaka on Sunday to attend the closing ceremony of the joint celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. A cultural delegation from India, which includes actress Sharmila Tagore and a dance drama group from the Sangeet Natak Academy will participate in the closing ceremony where Mukherjee would be the Guest of Honour, Ministry of External Affairs said. The decision to jointly celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore was taken by the Prime Ministers of the two countries in January 2010. The commencement of the joint celebrations, in May 2011, was attended by the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari in Dhaka and the year-long joint celebrations witnessed the participation of several cultural and literary personalities of both India and Bangladesh in each others’ countries. During his visit, Mukherjee, who flies to Dhaka from Manila after attending the ADB meeting, is scheduled to call on Hasina and meet the Leader of the Opposition Begum Khaleda Zia. Poet Rabindranath Tagore is held in great esteem in both India and Bangladesh. The national anthems of both the countries are composed by Tagore. Mukherjee's trip to Dhaka comes just a day ahead of a visit by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni here. During her stay, she will co-chair the first Joint Consultative Commission meeting, which was formed under the framework agreement on development and cooperation signed during Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September last year. The JCC meeting will discuss a wide range of issues, including water sharing, connectivity, border security and trade, official sources said. They said the Commission would review the progress made in implementation of the accords signed during Hasina's visit to New Delhi in 2010 and Manmohan Singh's reciprocal visit to Bangladesh in September last year. PTI