New Delhi, March 20 -- Bangladesh foreign minister Khalilur Rahman is expected to make a brief visit to the Indian capital next month - the first since the new Tarique Rahman government came to power in Dhaka - as the two countries take forward their efforts to normalise relations after a period of unprecedented strain, people familiar with the matter said. Rahman, the former National Security Adviser in the interim setup led by Muhammad Yunus and a surprise inclusion in Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's cabinet, is expected to make a stopover in New Delhi on April 8 while travelling to Mauritius for the Indian Ocean Conference, the people said on condition of anonymity. Indian high commissioner Pranay Verma met Rahman in Dhaka last month and extended an invitation from external affairs minister S Jaishankar to visit India at an early date, reflecting New Delhi's interest in revitalising ties after the strains witnessed during the term of the caretaker administration. There has been no official word from Dhaka on Prime Minister Rahman's first foreign trip, though the people said he is unlikely to make India or China the destination for such a visit as part of the new Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government's desire to signal that its foreign policy will not favour any regional power. The people said the Bangladeshi PM is likely to visit a country in the neighbourhood - either Bhutan or the Maldives - with Thimphu widely expected to be his first foreign port of call. "Prime Minister Rahman wants to build stronger relations within the region and also signal his thanks to the regional leaders who attended his inauguration," one of the people said. Both Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu attended the swearing-in of Bangladesh's new government in Dhaka on February 17. Prime Minister Rahman has also responded to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's efforts to normalise and rebuild bilateral relations through a letter sent in response to a missive from the Indian leader....