India committed to realising Bangabandhu’s vision of stable and progressive Bangladesh: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reiterated India’s commitment to realising Bangabandhu’s vision of a stable, prosperous and progressive Bangladesh while asserting that New Delhi will continue to give the highest priority to its relations with Dhaka.

“Bangladesh is India’s largest development partner and lies at the confluence of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, Act East policy, Vision SAGAR and Indo-Pacific vision. Together, we have completed many important public welfare projects in the last one year,” said PM Modi after holding talks with visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

Deepening historic ties between the two countries, the talks covered a range of areas of bilateral cooperation including development partnership, energy, water resources, trade, defence cooperation, and more.

PM Modi said that both countries have prepared a futuristic vision for cooperation in new areas.

“The youth of both countries will benefit from the consensus reached on cooperation in areas such as green partnership, digital partnership, blue economy and space,” said Prime Minister Modi.

“We welcome Bangladesh’s decision to join the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. We will also continue our cooperation in other regional and international forums, including BIMSTEC,” he added.

The two leaders have met each other 10 times since 2019, making unprecedented transformations in the relationship which has served as a role model for neighbourhood partnership.

Earlier, PM Modi received the Bangladesh Prime Minister at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, as the first guest on a bilateral State visit after the formation of the new government in India.

PM Sheikh Hasina also paid respect to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

The Bangladesh leader is also scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Sheikh Hasina was among the international leaders who attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi and the Union Council of Ministers on June 9, earlier this month.

–IANS