Pranab Mukherjee will distribute relief among the victims of the Nov 15 cyclone in the southern part of Bangladesh during a visit here.
DHAKA: India's Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee will distribute relief among the victims of the Nov 15 cyclone in the southern part of Bangladesh during a visit here on Saturday, when he is expected to announce enhanced aid to the eastern neighbour.
Mukherjee's visit, the first at the ministerial level to cyclone-hit areas, is aimed at meeting criticism in some quarters at home because India announced only $1 million worth of aid, reports said.
Mukherjee hails from West Bengal and has a good rapport with many of Bangladesh's leaders.
On Thursday, Mukherjee will join the relief operations in the coastal areas in the south where a multinational effort is already on.
Mukherjee is expected to announce the enhancement of India's aid package for cyclone victims during his one-day visit, the New Age newspaper said quoting sources in the Indian High Commission here.
Foreign secretary Touhid Hossain said Mukherjee's itinerary is yet to be finalised.
His visit to Bangladesh will be followed on Dec 4 and 7 by the arrivals of two Indian ships, including an Indian Navy vessel, carrying 20,000 tonnes of rice for cyclone victims.
The Indian Air Force has already brought an estimated 80 tonnes of ready-to-eat food and relief material that is being distributed.
This will be Mukherjee's second visit to Bangladesh this year after a caretaker government headed by Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed took office on Jan 11.
Mukherjee was here in February to officially invite Bangladesh to the 14th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit that took place in April.
Apart from distributing relief and observing the post-cyclone situation, Mukherjee will discuss bilateral issues with Bangladeshi officials, including foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.
Bangladesh Foreign Office sources said the schedule of the Indian foreign minister's visit was fixed in Kampala when Mukherjee met Chowdhury on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Summit.
Bangladesh's Armed Forces Division Wednesday put the cyclone death toll at 3,285, with 800 missing in the south and southwestern regions of the country. Cyclone Sidr uprooted a million people and devastated crops and fisheries, the country's economic mainstay.
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