Dhaka, March 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Saturday and discussed the progress made in areas such as connectivity, energy, trade, health and development cooperation, following which the two countries covered several areas While signing five MoUs of bilateral cooperation.
Going to Bangladesh on his first visit to a foreign country after the outbreak of coronovirus, Modi interacted face-to-face with Hasina, which was followed by a delegation-level meeting that continued for an hour.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arvind Bagchi tweeted after the talks, “Relations going from strength to strength! Prime Minister @narendramodi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussed health, business, connectivity, energy, developmental cooperation and progress achieved in many areas. ” .
The two sides signed five memorandums of understanding (MOUs) covering areas such as connectivity, commerce, information technology and sports.
In a human gesture, Prime Minister Modi handed over a representation key of 109 ambulances to his counterpart Hasina. He also handed over a representational box to Bangladesh as a token of India’s gift of 1.2 million COVID vaccine doses.
Hasina presented Modi with a gold and silver coin issued on the occasion of the birth centenary of her father and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He also handed over a silver coin issued on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence.
The two leaders also virtually opened some projects jointly.
Modi’s visit comes at a time when Bangladesh is commemorating Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary and the country’s 50-year liberation struggle. The two countries are also celebrating 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations.
On Friday, Modi attended the centenary celebrations of the Bangabandhu in Dhaka, the golden jubilee of India’s independence.
The two Prime Ministers held a virtual summit on 17 December, during which Modi said that Bangladesh is a key pillar of New Delhi’s “Neighborhood First” policy, while Hasina described India as a “true friend” and said Both countries can do this by further integrating their economies, as well as promoting connectivity, playing a key role in global and regional value chains.