A day before his arrival in Bangladesh, India’s High Commissioner-designate Dinesh Trivedi has said that India wants to work closely with Bangladesh to emerge as strong democracies and world powers. Speaking to the media after visiting Netaji Bhavan in West Bengal's Kolkata today, he said, “With 140 crore of India and another 20 crore of our brothers and sisters from Bangladesh, we will absolutely be achieving whatever we want to achieve in the world.” Dinesh is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, replacing Pranay Kumar Verma, who recently joined the Indian embassy in Belgium and the European Union as ambassador. Diplomatic sources confirmed that Dinesh will enter Bangladesh through the Benapole-Petrapole land port. Expressing optimism, he said, “Together with the people of Bangladesh, we can emerge as the strongest democracies and one of the strongest world powers. That is what we are going to achieve. We are going to do it together.” He added that he would be coming to Bangladesh with “a lot of energy and good wishes from 160 crore people of India and Bangladesh.” Dinesh expressed gratitude to the Indian prime minister and the people of India for entrusting him with the responsibility. Dinesh previously served as Union Minister for Railways and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare during the UPA regime, when he was a member of the Trinamool Congress. He resigned from the party in February 2021 and joined the BJP the following month.