‘Bangladesh significant pillar of India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy,’ PM Modi tells Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that Bangladesh continues to be one of the significant pillars of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. In a video conference with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi said that his government concentrated on keeping strong relations with Dhaka ever since it came into power. Hasina, in turn, said that India is Bangladesh’s true friend.

The two leaders jointly inaugurated a Bangabandhu-Bapu digital exhibition, a pre-1965 railway link, released a commemorative stamp on Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s birth centenary and signed seven pacts to form an India-Bangladesh CEOs forum with IT sector as a priority area.

“It is a matter of pride for me that I am getting to release a digital exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. They will continue to inspire our youths,” Modi said.

Modi also said that there was good co-operation between India and Bangladesh to tackle the challenges of coronavirus pandemic.

Bangladesh PM Hasina, meanwhile, paid homage to the martyrs of the 1971 war. “I pay my gratitude to the govt and people of India who extended wholehearted support for the cause of our liberation,” she said. Hasina also commended the Modi government over its handling of the pandemic.

The Bangabandhu-Bapu digital exhibition will be displayed in New Delhi, and subsequently in different locations in Bangladesh, the United Nations and finally culminate in Kolkata in early 2022. India and Bangladesh have been making efforts to enhance transport and connectivity. Officials said that the leadership on both sides have been committed to reviving and operationalising the six pre-1965 rail links between India and Bangladesh. With the inauguration of the Haldibari-Chilahati rail link, five links are currently operational.