Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be on a four-day state visit to India between September 4 and 8, the Indian external affairs ministry announced on Thursday, setting the stage for a trip by the Premier of one of India’s most trusted neighbours in South Asia.

“In recent years, both sides have sustained a high level of engagement, including at the highest level. The forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will further strengthen the multifaceted relationship between the two countries based on strong historical and cultural ties and mutual trust and understanding,” the external affairs ministry said in a media release in the evening.

The visit, ahead of the crucial general election in the neighbouring country next year, is significant for Hasina, often criticised as pro-India in her country. The Opposition in Bangladesh will closely watch the takeaways for Bangladesh from her India outing. Sources in Dhaka said that an entire gamut of issues — from discussions on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement between the two countries to resolution of pending issues such as water sharing from common rivers — was likely to be taken up by the two sides during Hasina’s visit.

During her stay in Delhi, Hasina is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, among others.

She will also address a meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Hasina had last visited India in November 2019 on the invitation of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly for the first pink ball Test match hosted by India.

The match between India and Bangladesh was played at the Eden Gardens. A month prior to that personal visit, she had been to Delhi on an official trip during which several MoUs and agreements between the two countries were signed. “It is true that engagements between the two countries have increased in the last few years in areas like trade, investment and connectivity.… Then, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bangladesh to join the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh and the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh,” a Bangladeshi diplomat said on Thursday.

According to him, people in Bangladesh recognise the progress made but want some breakthrough vis-a-vis sharing of water from common rivers, especially the Teesta. Last week, ministerial-level talks in Delhi at a meeting of the joint river commission made some headway with both counties agreeing on the contents of an MoU for water sharing from the Kushiyara river and finalising how water would be taken from the Feni river to resolve drinking water problems in Tripura.

After the meeting, the Bangladesh side reiterated its demand for a speedy resolution of the Teesta stalemate, stuck due to Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s opposition, but the official release from India was silent on it.

As Hasina had earlier written to Mamata expressing hope of meeting the Bengal chief minister during her Delhi visit, there has been speculation on the possibility of a meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the state visit. For a meeting between Mamata and Hasina during a state visit, the Bengal chief minister has to receive an invite from Delhi. A source in Nabanna said no such invitation had reached the state secretariat till Thursday evening.