Kolkata: Bangladesh’s phenomenal economic growth is helping boost development in India’s Northeast, junior foreign minister R K Ranjan Singh has said.
“The economic progress, peace and stability in Bangladesh are not only securing the interest of the people of Bangladesh, but it is also playing important role in developing the North-eastern region of India,” Ranjan Singh said while addressing a reception hosted on the occasion of Bangladesh’s independence day at the country’s High Commission in Delhi late on Monday.
The High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India H.E. Muhammad Imran and his wife Zakia Hasnat Imran welcomed the guests, where the State Minister for External Affairs Shri Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh was the chief guest. State Minister Meenakshi Lekhi of the same ministry was the special guest.
Ranjan Singh said that the relationship between India-Bangladesh is passing the golden chapter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovid have visited Bangladesh last year to celebrate the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and to mark the golden jubilee of Bangladesh victory day respectively, he said.
Ranjan Singh said that Bangabandhu is not only the great hero of the independence of Bangladesh but he is considered a hero in India.
“India-Bangladesh relation is just no other relation, we share unique bond and history, culture and people to people contact,” he mentioned in his speech.
He also said we are proud to be partners in Bangladesh’s stellar economic progress.
Bangladesh High Commissioner Muhammed Imran said, over the last decade the relationship between Bangladesh-India has reached a golden chapter having a comprehensive partnership covering all possible areas of cooperation under the leadership of our able Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He said, the 9 months of the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, not only ravaged the economy but also completely destroyed the physical infrastructure of the country. Bangabandhu is only the leader who reformed and rebuilt the country with his farsightedness and dynamic leadership during his three and half year regime.
High commissioner Imran said Bangladesh and India have been working together to re-establish the old connectivity and to open new routes to connect the distant areas of India through Bangladesh. People to people contact between Bangladesh and India has increased manifold due to better connectivity and flexibility in the visa regime of both sides.
The High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India H.E. Muhammad Imran recalled with deep gratitude the contribution of the people of the Government of India for their moral and material support during the liberation war and difficult days.
At the beginning of the programme, the Band of Bangladesh Air Force played the melody of the national anthem of the musical instrument on the occasion of Independence Day, the Mission also cut the cake and organized a cultural programme.
The reception followed by dinner was attended by a minimum of 150 diplomats including the High Commissioner and Ambassadors of different countries, military attaches, high government officials, war veterans, elites, journalists’ academics and friends of Bangladesh.