President of India Droupadi Murmu on Friday lauded the remarkable socio-economic development in Bangladesh that has been achieved under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She said both countries should work together to focus on women empowerment – half of the population – to foster economic development.
The Indian president made the remarks when Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud met her at Rashtrapati Bhaban.
She said that all the women in South Asia should be proud of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her capability and leadership.
The President of India said that a “strong, stable and prosperous” Bangladesh is in India’s interest, and there is immense political will on both sides to see the relationship grow.
She expressed satisfaction at the progress made in almost all areas of bilateral cooperation, such as border and security, trade, connectivity, power, infrastructure, people to people contacts etc.
The President noted that both sides have been reviving rail, road and waterways that traditionally linked the people and economies on both sides, and are also simultaneously creating new connectivity links.
Welcoming Minister Hasan, the President conveyed felicitations to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her unprecedented fourth consecutive term as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
She expressed confidence that under her leadership, Bangladesh will achieve new milestones of progress and prosperity.
FM Hasan briefed the president of India about his visit and stressed on having excellent relations with India.
President Murmu congratulated Hasan on his appointment as the foreign minister of Bangladesh.
She expressed happiness on the excellent existing relationship between Bangladesh and India.
She said India attaches high importance to the relations with Bangladesh. She noted that Bangladesh is the largest development and trading partner of India.
The foreign minister requested the president to visit Bangladesh at her earliest convenience.
Hasan also met the Vice President of India and the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Indian Parliament.
He had a tour of the newly built parliament building of India.
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Earlier in the morning, the foreign minister met Piyush Goyal, minister of commerce and industry of India and discussed issues of mutual interest.
The foreign minister mentioned that the new government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina starts a fresh journey with new mandates, and one of the priorities of the government is to address the prices of essential commodities.
He requested the commerce minister to take necessary measures in ensuring uninterrupted supply of the essential commodities to Bangladesh till Ramadan.
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Piyush Goyal said India is committed to ensuring the economic and financial stability in Bangladesh.
He assured of accommodating the request of Bangladesh foreign minister for supplying essential commodities.
He stressed on further improving the trade and commerce relation between the two countries.
Other thing that featured in the discussion was holding regular meetings including the Commerce Minister Level Meeting to address the issues related to trade and commerce, according to Bangladesh side.
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On Thursday, Foreign Minister Hasan made key note speeches at the prestigious think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation and Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia.
In these two key note addresses he highlighted the Bangladesh-India relations in the last decade and the way forward to make the relation even stronger.
The foreign minister is expected to attend a civic reception in Kolkata at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission participated by a large number of diplomats members of think-tank and media based in Kolkata.
Foreign Minister will return to Dhaka on Friday night.
