PM Hasina's visit was 'exceptionally strong': India

Terming Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina's visit to India as "exceptionally strong", Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Saturday threw light on the agreements signed between India and Bangladesh.

Talking about India extending the Line of Credit (LoC) worth Rs. 4.5 billion dollars to Bangladesh, Jaishankar said that both the countries have already identified 17 projects including port development and other key infrastructure upgrade, which was among the largest done for any country bilaterally.

"We have already started to identify projects and they are quite an impressive list. It includes two ports, Tiara Ports terminal as well as Dry Dock in Chittagong and the up -gradation of Manglapur, floor laying of many roads, upgradation of an airport , transmission lines," Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart discussed threat of terrorism in the region and added that there was a convergence of views between the countries on the issue.

"You know Bangladesh is also facing the challenge of terrorism that something which found mention in public space and discussions," he said.

Jaishankar informed that Prime Minister Hasina will call on President Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow adding that lot of business related agreements worth of billions of dollars will be signed between the two countries.

"As I said, it is a very good and very strong visit in the making in many ways. I think the chemistry between the leaders is very visible. Very strong meeting minds and a very robust agenda of where we are going, I think we have a lot on our plate. And clearly both of us attach and an enormous amount of importance to this visit in terms of creating an agenda which takes relationship to a new level," he said.

Hailing Hasina's 'zero-tolerance' policy to deal with terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier today credited decisive leadership of the former for achievements of India-Bangladesh partnership.

"Today marks golden era in India-Bangladesh ties. We thank Prime Minister Hasina for acknowledging our soldiers efforts in liberating Bangladesh from the reign of terror," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing a joint statement here.

Asserting that he is determined that fruits of cooperation between the two nations will benefit people, the Prime Minister said India is a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh.

Shaping the future of bilateral ties, Prime Minister Modi and the Bangladesh Prime Minister earlier in the day, led delegation level talks and signed 22 pacts in a wide range of bilateral relations.