PM Modi holds talks with Sheikh Hasina; India, Bangladesh sign 5 MoUs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Saturday and discussed the progress achieved in shared areas

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Saturday and discussed the progress achieved in areas like connectivity, energy, trade, health and developmental cooperation following which the two countries signed five MoUs covering a number of areas of bilateral cooperation.

Modi, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus, held one-on-one talks with Hasina which was followed by delegation-level meeting which continued for over an hour.

"Relationship going from strength to strength! Prime Minister @narendramodi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussed the progress achieved in areas of health, trade, connectivity, energy, developmental cooperation and many more, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted after the talks.

The two sides signed five Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) covering areas such as connectivity, commerce, information technology and sports.

In a humanitarian gesture, Prime Minister Modi handed over a representational key of 109 ambulances to his counterpart Hasina. He also handed over a representational box to her as a symbol of India's gift of 1.2 million COVID vaccine doses to Bangladesh.

Hasina presented a gold and a silver coin released on the occasion of the birth centenary of her father and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to Modi. She also handed over a silver coin released on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence.

The two leaders also jointly opened some projects virtually.

Modi's visit is taking place at a time Bangladesh is commemorating Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of the country's war of liberation. The two countries are also celebrating 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

On Friday, Modi attended the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country's independence, the birth centenary of Bangabandhu' in Dhaka.

The two prime ministers held a virtual summit on December 17 during which Modi said Bangladesh is a key pillar of New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, while Hasina described India as a "true friend" and asserted that both countries could play a significant role in the global and regional value chains by further integrating their economies as well as boosting connectivity.