People in Bangladesh and India are excited about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s potential visit to India and the two countries’ leaders are “on the same page”, Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi said on Wednesday, with no date yet fixed for the trip.

“The atmosphere is extremely positive,” Trivedi told reporters at the Secretariat after a courtesy meeting with Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan. “When there’s talk of the prime minister’s visit, everybody is excited, in both countries. It is a good news.”

He said the two prime ministers would meet at a convenient time and there was no need to rush. “It is absolutely certain that at some point in time, both the leaders of sovereign independent countries will meet,” he said. “Let us give both the leaders, both the countries, convenient time. At the right time, all right things will happen.”

November has been discussed but no date has been set, Trivedi said. “I would love to have tomorrow; why wait for November?”

He stressed that officials on both sides needed to work before the leaders met. “We have to make sure that proper preparation is made,” he said. “Deliverability also has to be there.”

Trivedi said the two sides needed to discuss trade, commerce, water and other issues, adding that discussions between the two sides were continuing.

On his meeting with Tarique Rahman, Trivedi said: “I have met your honourable Prime Minister Tarique ji. He is a wonderful person. Both the leaders are on the same page.”

The Indian envoy said people-to-people ties between the two countries went beyond political and diplomatic contacts, covering water, cricket, football, trade, poetry, theatre, film and music, and called for greater cultural exchange. He stressed interdependence rather than dependence.

Trivedi said he was “absolutely optimistic” about the visit. Public pressure matters in a democracy, he said, and ultimately what people wanted was a “golden chapter” in relations. India’s prime minister had sent him to Bangladesh for that reason, he added.

While acknowledging that challenges existed between the two countries and it would be wrong to think otherwise, Trivedi added that when the two prime ministers meet, there is no question that cannot be resolved.

Trivedi noted that nothing is more important than ordinary people and hoped the outcome would be good for them.