PM Narendra Modi may cancel Dhaka visit after 3 coronavirus cases reported in Bangladesh

PM Modi was scheduled to visit Bangladesh on March 17 at the invitation of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend the centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

File photo

Dhaka: Hours after Bangladesh reported three confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, Indian government sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may cancel his visit to Dhaka due to the deadly virus scare. Government sources said that a final decision in this regard will be taken soon.

PM Modi was scheduled to visit Bangladesh on March 17 at the invitation of  Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend the birth centenary celebrations of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangladesh is also scaling down the grand celebration of the event and has cancelled participation of foreign secretaries due to health concerns. 

Two of the affected people who tested positive in Dhaka had the travel history of Italy and the other one was a family member of one of the travellers.

After the coronavirus outbreak, this is the second visit which may get cancelled by PM Modi. Earlier, he had also cancelled his visit to Brussels to hold a summit meeting with the European Union in view of the global spread of coronavirus.

It is to be noted that there was an ongoing protest in Bangladesh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the protestors were demanding that PM Hasina should cancel Modi's his visit. However, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday (March 8) assured that the nation's security agencies are capable of handling 'any untoward situation'. 

During his visit, PM Modi was expected to assuage Bangladesh's concerns over the citizenship law and the NRC.