The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived Dhaka yesterday on a five-day visit to Bangladesh.

Rahul Gandhi, the son of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and assassinated prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, reached the Zia International Airport at about 3.30 PM on a Jet Airways flight.

Grameen Bank Chief and Nobel Laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus received the 38-year-old Indian Member of Parliament and General Secretary of the ruling Congress Party amid tight security.

The visit came amid media speculations about the timing of the tour as diplomatic sources earlier had hinted that Dhaka would have preferred that he delay the tour for few days until the return of Bangladesh interim government chief Fakhruddin Ahmed from the SAARC summit in Sri Lankan capital Colombo on August 4.

The Indian leader came to Bangladesh, for the first time, on a private visit to get first-hand knowledge of rural development particularly the micro-finance projects of Grameen Bank and the activities of BRAC in various sectors.

During his visit, he will also visit some projects of BRAC in Gazipur today and Grameen Bank projects Singair in Manikganj on Sunday, according to sources. He will visit Grameen Bank office in Mirpur on Monday.

It is learnt that Rahul Gandhi is interested to see if the Grameen Bank and BRAC projects could be replicated in India.

He had met Dr Yunus in Delhi in March last year and has already started some micro-finance and women-empowerment projects in his poverty-stricken Lok Sabha constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

On the occasion of his arrival, the approach to the airport's VIP Lounge was closed to traffic and the whole area was surrounded by members of the Rapid Action Battalion, armed police and intelligence squads.

Earlier, a contingent of Indian Special Protection Group arrived in Dhaka on Thursday to ensure total security for the prominent member of India's Nehru-Gandhi dynasty ahead of his visit.

Meanwhile, A team of Special Security Force of Bangladesh has also been assigned to provide security during his stay in Bangladesh.

The Indian leader is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Tuesday.