New Delhi: Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will begin a two-day visit to Dhaka from Monday.Dhaka has traditionally been among the top-three destinations for a new foreign secretary after taking over office.The Bangladeshi capital will be Shringla’s second foreign destination as foreign secretary, after Kabul. The Indian prime minister is scheduled to visit Dhaka in the middle of this month, to take part in founder of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary celebrations.Modi is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the function on March 17. Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will also participate in the anniversary celebrations.Last week, the Bangladesh government had to justify the invitation to Modi after several political parties and activists called for disinviting the Indian prime minister to the event over the Delhi riots.“India helped us most during the Liberation War of Bangladesh and that is why the Indian prime minister has been invited to join the programme. Refraining from inviting the Indian prime minister would have been an act of ingratitude,” Bangladesh road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader had said on Thursday.Also read: Bangladesh Govt Brushes Aside Calls to Drop Modi From Mujibur Rahman Centenary EventSince December last year, there had been a bit of a friction in one of the South Asia’s model bilateral ties, when India passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The controversial legislation that has triggered protests across India allows fast-track Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.On Sunday, Bangladeshi speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury announced the postponement of her planned visit to Delhi at the eleventh hour.According to The Daily Star, the speaker’s office postponed her visit, citing responsibilities connected to the celebrations starting from March 17. She was scheduled to travel to India from March 2 to 5 on an invitation from Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.As she is in charge of organising and coordinating several events, including special sessions of parliament to be held on March 22 and 23, Shirin is currently unavailable for visits abroad, said the press release issued at 10:45 pm on Sunday.Foreign minister A.K. Abdul Momen had postponed his visit to India at the last minute in December, with the official reason being that he had to attend two national day events. Since then, two other ministerial visits had been postponed, but Bangladesh information minister Muhammad Hasan Mahmud had travelled to Delhi in January this year.Indian officials insist that relations have not deteriorated as per public perception. They asserted that several technical level meetings have continued to take place related to security and trade.In January, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had said that while the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was an internal matter for India, she was puzzled about the rationale of the legislation as it “was not necessary”.The Indian foreign secretary will be meeting with the Bangladeshi leadership and address a seminar by a Dhaka-based think tank.