Bangladesh March 26: In an op-ed piece published on Friday in a Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star, PM Narendra Modi underlined the significance of deeper India-Bangladesh ties for a “golden future”.
He underlined the need for creating “a scenario where our people could study, work, and do business effortlessly across this subcontinent”. PM Modi is on a two-day tour of Bangladesh beginning Thursday.
PM Modi is in Bangladesh to commemorate the 50th year of the formation of Bangladesh and take part in the country’s National Day celebration. PM Modi paid respect to the founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is popularly known as Bangabandhu.
In the op-ed titled — “Imagining a different South Asia with Bangabandhu“, PM Modi said Rahman’s “vision went beyond the narrow confines of physical borders and social divisions“. “That is why we join our Bangladeshi sisters and brothers in celebrating Bangabandhu’s memory in this very special Mujib Borsho,” he further said.
PM Modi said, “As we look back on Bangabandhu’s life and struggle, I ask myself, what could our subcontinent have looked like, had this modern-day giant not been assassinated?“
Rahman was assassinated in August 1975, three years after the creation of Bangladesh from what was called East Pakistan then.
Calling for deeper ties between India and Bangladesh, PM Modi said, “It is time to once again chart a bold ambition for our partnership, as Bangabandhu would have done. With the spirit and enterprise of our people as our Bhagya Vidhata, the dispenser of our shared destiny, such a future is closer than ever.”
Also Read: PM Modi inaugurates India-Bangladesh ‘Maitri Setu’ bridge | Read Details
“We have also made good progress in the area of connectivity. Cargo from Bangladesh can move to Nepal and Bhutan through India. We are in the process of implementing a similar arrangement for Indian cargo to reach India’s North Eastern States through Bangladesh,” PM Modi said in his Bangladeshi newspaper journal.
“India will remain Bangladesh’s partner as we jointly march towards the golden future for which Bangabandhu, and millions of patriotic Bangladeshis, and indeed thousands of Indians, gave their all,” he said.
PM Modi also talked about the completion of projects such as the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline and the Akhaura-Agartala rail link.
This is PM Modi’s first foreign visit since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. He was scheduled to visit Bangladesh last year but the visit had to be postponed due to the emerging Covid-19 situation in the country.
