Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the second day of his visit to Bangladesh, held a delegation-level meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, and signed five memoranda of understanding to further enhance bilateral relations between the two nations.
A new passenger train connecting Dhaka and New Jalpaiguri on the Indian side was also jointly inaugurated by PM Modi and Hasina via video conference. This is the third passenger train after Maitree Express (Dhaka-Kolkata) and Bandhan Express (Khulna-Kolkata) that runs between the two neighboring countries.
“India and Bangladesh signed memoranda of understanding in key sectors such as disaster management, sports and youth affairs, trade, technology and more. This will add strength to our partnership for development and benefit the people of our nations, especially the youth, ”Modi said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said Modi and Hasina discussed the progress made in the areas of health, trade, connectivity, energy, development cooperation and many more.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers the Indian-made Covid-19 vaccines to his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka on Saturday. (Source: Twitter / @ narendramodi)
In addition, the two leaders decided to celebrate December 6, the day that India formally recognized Bangladesh, as ‘Maitri Diwas’, said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
“Trade and connectivity, cooperation and water resources, security, defense, power and energy, artificial intelligence, the environment and the social application of nuclear energy were also part of the debate. An important part of our third line of credit will go to civil nuclear cooperation. The transmission lines of the Ruppur nuclear power plant will be developed by Indian companies under the credit line. The value of these transmission lines will exceed one billion dollars ”, he added.
In a humanitarian gesture, Prime Minister Modi handed over a representative key to 109 life-saving ambulances to his counterpart Hasina. He also delivered a representation box as a symbol of India’s gift of 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh.
Hasina presented a gold and a silver coin thrown on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of her father and the father of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman nation to Modi. He also presented a silver coin released on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh.
The two leaders also jointly inaugurated three new border haats along the India-Bangladesh border, laid the groundwork for a memorial in Bangladesh’s Ashuganj in memory of the Indian soldiers who died in the 1971 War of Liberation and the work of Extended development at Rabindra Bhawan Kuthibari in Shilaidaha. of Kushtia from Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Modi at the Bangabandhu Mausoleum on Saturday. (Source: Twitter / @ narendramodi)
Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s “sincere and continuous efforts” to conclude the Teesta water exchange agreement in consultation with relevant stakeholders during his talks with Hasina. “The Indian side also requested early completion of a draft to share the pending Feni River water with the Bangladesh side,” Shringla said.
Earlier in the day, Modi, after offering his prayers at a temple in Gopalganj’s Orakandi, the birthplace of the Hindu mystical figure and the spiritual guru of the Harichand Thakur community, said that both countries want stability, love and peace. in the world when he stressed that New Delhi and Dhaka want the world to progress through its own development.
Addressing members of the Matua community, she said: “I feel the same emotions that members of the Matua community in India felt after coming to Orakandi.”
PM Modi interacts with members of the Matua community on Saturday. (Source: Twitter / @ narendramodi)
Modi announced that India will upgrade a girls’ secondary school and establish a primary school in Orakandi.
“Both nations are facing this pandemic strongly and are fighting it together. India is working hard as it feels it is its duty to ensure that ‘Made in India’ vaccines reach the citizens of Bangladesh, ”Modi added.
Modi also visited the Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple in Ishwaripur and paid tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex.
.
