News Desk :
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she and her host Indian premier Narenda Modi on Tuesday reaffirmed their resolve to sign an agreement on sharing the water of Teesta River that runs through the two neighboring countries.
“We expressed hope that all outstanding issues will be resolved, including the signing of the Teesta water sharing Treaty at an early date,” Hasina said in a press statement after talks with Modi at historic Hyderabad House in upscale New Delhi, reports UNB.
She said they have resolved the issue of the Kushiyara and expressed hope that other rivers’ issues will be resolved. “As long as Narendra Modi is here, Bangladesh and India will resolve all its problems.” She said they both agreed to pursue collaborative efforts to sustain their economic growth and maintain peace, security and stability in the two countries and in the region.
PM Hasina also mentioned that it will bring benefit not only to the two countries, but also bring peace and prosperity in the region as a whole if Bangladesh and India can work together as partners.
She said that bounded by 54 common rivers and four thousand kilometers of border, Bangladesh and India are committed to enhancing the collective welfare of the two peoples.
Hasina said Bangladesh-India bilateral relations are known to be a role model for neighborhood diplomacy.
“Over the last decade, both the countries have achieved remarkable progress in a number of areas,” she said.
The prime minister said that two countries had resolved many of the outstanding issues in the spirit of friendship and cooperation.
Having forged a strong partnership over the last 50 years, she said, both countries are working on an increasingly wide range of issues of mutual interest.
She congratulated India on successful completion of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ – the year-long celebrations marking the 75th year of India’s Independence.
The prime minister termed the bilateral meeting as another round of fruitful discussion, and hoped that the outcome of this meeting will bring benefits to the peoples of both the countries.
“We held the meeting in a spirit of close friendship and cooperation. We discussed a wide range of bilateral issues to take forward our relationship in the days ahead.”
She mentioned that both of them focused on possible ways to materialize our commitments and accommodate each other’s priorities in a mutually beneficial manner.
Connectivity, trade and commerce, investment, water resources management, security, border management and lines of credit are some of the areas they discussed, Hasina said.
She expressed her gratitude for the invaluable support extended by the Government and the people of India in the great War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
“Since then, Bangladesh-India ties are anchored in shared history and culture, mutual trust and respect, longstanding friendship and continued cooperation.”
Hasina appreciated Modi’s visionary leadership that continues to provide added momentum to our bilateral relations.
She reiterated that India is the most important and closest neighbour of Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister said they agreed to work together in the spirit of friendship and partnership for the prosperity and development of the two countries and the region.
“We have been able to resolve all our issues through bilateral discussion between us. So I think that two friendly countries will be able to establish the rights of the two countries, reduce poverty and attain economic freedom,” she said.
PM Hasina said not only the two countries, people of the South and Southeast Asia will be economically developed with prosperity. “We are neighbours, there might be some problems with our neighbours, but we will solve those problems through discussions. We have set that example,” she added.
Video clips on the Maitree power plant, Rupsha Bridge, supply of road construction equipment and machinery, Khulna Darshana railway line link and Parbatipur -Kaunia railway line, were screened on the occasion.
PM Hasina also gave a book to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the historic 7th March speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that was translated in various languages.
Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi published the book.
