Modi assures help for Bangladesh’s growth

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina of his country's full support for overall development of Bangladesh.

Both prime ministers, currently in New York to attend the 69th United Nations General Assembly, met on Saturday for the first time on the sidelines of the UNGA.

After the meeting, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told reporters Modi assured that India would continue to assist Bangladesh in all aspects for its growth.

Hasina urged Modi to take sincere steps to resolve the unsettled matters including the two most important issues - Teesta water sharing treaty and the land boundary agreement.

Haque said as the prime minister brought up several issues, Modi assured that he was 'looking for ways to resolve them'.

Hasina also emphasised on the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor during the meeting.

Modi also responded positively when Hasina asked for his help to remove the barriers that are obstructing Bangladesh's direct land communications plan with Nepal and Bhutan.

Haque said the Indian prime minister agreed that any kind of hurdle in the way of communications between Bangladesh, India and these two countries must be settled. He also gave an order right away, Haque added.

The foreign secretary added that Modi had mostly stressed on regional development.

"When our prime minister spoke of utilising the potentialities of South Asia, he (Modi) said everyone will have to come together for development."

Narendra Modi also proposed to build and launch a satellite which would provide services to the SAARC member countries.

Accepting Hasina's invitation to visit Bangladesh, Modi assured to keep his promise of visiting the neighbouring country soon.

Mentioning Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s role in Bangladesh's independence, the Indian prime minister also praised his daughter's leadership, Haque said.

He quoted Modi as saying, "Bangabandhu founded Bangladesh and his daughter saved Bangladesh."

Narendra Modi, who became the new prime minister only four months ago, made the same remarks when Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali recently called on him.

Since he came to power, the hard-line BJP leader had been pledging good relations with the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh.

Highlighting the significance of cooperation between the neighbours, Modi recently said that 'the past, present and future of India and Bangladesh are interlinked'.

The remark had put to bed all speculations surrounding Bangladesh’s relations with the new regime in Delhi that took over in May.

The meeting between Hasina and Modi took place at the New York Palace hotel on Saturday after the Bangladesh prime minister addressed the UNGA.

Modi is staying at this hotel. Hasina is staying at the Grand Hyatt.

Both the premiers agreed to root out terrorism from the region as it was the main adversary of development, Shahidul Haque said.

Modi also thanked Hasina for providing facilities to transport 10,000 metric tonnes of food grain from southern part of India through the river ports and roads of Bangladesh to north-eastern state of Tripura.

He also lauded Sheikh Hasina's daughter Saima Wazed Hossain Putul’s works on autism.

In reply to a question on whether the two prime ministers discussed the much-talked about Saradha scam, the foreign secretary said, "No. Prime minister-level talks are held on policy matters."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was accompanied by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister Shahriar Alam, chief of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Ministry Dipu Moni and several of her advisors during the meeting with Narendra Modi.

Later in the day, she is scheduled to attend and address the Global Citizens' Festival at the Central Park in New York.

The prime minister will celebrate her 68th birthday on Sunday. She will spend the day with her family including her son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy.

Hasina will leave for the United Kingdom on Monday. She will spend two days in the UK before returning home on Oct 2.