Sunday, January 22 2006 10:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is likely to undertake a visit to India in late March or early April.

The two countries are understood to have narrowed down on this period for the visit, ending wrangling over procedures which had threatened the trip taking place after over a decade.

India has proposed two sets of dates falling the last week of March while Bangladesh has suggested a date of first week of April, sources told sources here today (Jan 22,2006).

"Exact dates are being worked out from these slots," they said.

The two sides held discussions here when the External Affairs Ministry called Bangladesh High Commissioner Liaquat Ali Choudhury here on Friday to convey India's concerns over a terror threat to Chief Executive Officer Richard Larison and nine Indian doctors of Apollo Hospital in Dhaka recently.

"Further discussions will be held to finalise the mutually-convenient dates for the Bangladesh Prime Minister's visit," the sources said.

Earlier, differences had cropped up between Foreign Ministries of the two countries over preparations for Begum Zia's first visit to India in 13 years.

While Bangladesh insisted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should visit Dhaka first and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran travel to Dhaka to fine-tune that visit, India felt Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin should come here before that if Dhaka was interested in a visit by Begum Zia.

Bangladesh is understood to have gone to the extent of conveying that if the Indian Foreign Secretary did not visit Dhaka, then Zia would also not visit Delhi.

Dhaka had said that at the most she could travel to India as SAARC Chairperson and not undertake a bilateral visit.

Dhaka had told New Delhi that its Foreign Secretary could visit here after Saran's trip there.

India had maintained that it is usually the officials from the country of the visiting dignitary that travel to the host country to prepare for the visit of Head of State or Government.

Zia was invited by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when they had met in Dhaka on the sidelines of SAARC Summit there in November. She had accepted the invitation and dates for the travel were to be worked out through diplomatic channels.

A section in Bangladesh's ruling BNP had been saying that Zia should not travel to New Delhi before Singh's visits to Dhaka as they do not treat the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Bangladesh capital in November for SAARC Summit as a bilateral one.

Relations between India and Bangladesh have been uneasy for past several years, mainly because of differences on illegal migration, existence of North East insurgent camps in Bangladesh and fencing of the border.

During his meeting with Zia in November, Singh had told her that India wanted the 'best of relations' with Bangladesh and asked Dhaka not to allow forces inimical to India to operate from that country and ensure peaceful borders.

Singh had made it clear that India was ready to resolve all outstanding issues with Bangladesh amicably through talks.