Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid on Sunday visited the Dargah of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty in Ajmer, and prayed for peace and harmony in the subcontinent, the shrine’s officials said.

“He (Hamid) visited the dargah at around 3:35pm and stayed for 15-20 minutes, offering prayers,” Syed Manovar Chisty, a khadim (servitor) at the shrine, over 140km from the state capital Jaipur, said.

“He prayed for peace and harmony in the subcontinent and strong bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh,” said a source close to Syed Akil Ahmed Chisty, the khadim who helped the
president to offer prayers.

President Hamid, along with a 25-30 member delegation, reached Ajmer by helicopter and went straight to the state government’s circuit House where after some rest he went to the dargah where the dargah committee welcomed him in traditional style.

He also offered a maroon-coloured chador at the shrine.

Looking to the visit of Bangladesh president, the administration had beefed up security arrangements at the dargah, which was vacated fully.

Hamid was accorded a warm welcome earlier on his arrival at the Jaipur’s Sanganer airport by state minister Arun Chaturvedi and senior police and administrative officials.

President Hamid arrived in Kolkata yesterday on a two-day visit to West Bengal state of India.

He was received at the airport by Minister for Urban Development and Municipal
Affairs Firhad Hakim.

West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi will host a dinner in honour of the Bangladesh President at Raj Bhavan this evening, Raj Bhavan officials said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also attend the dinner, a government official said.

Hamid will visit Santiniketan today and come back to Kolkata the same day before flying back to Dhaka.

The Bangladesh president had arrived in Delhi on December 18 on a six-day official visit during which he held talks with the Indian leadership with an aim to further strengthen the already close bilateral relations between the two countries.

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