India-Bangladesh relations, exemplary for South Asia - Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar

New Delhi: – Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said ‘There are very few countries in the world who share a close brotherly bond. India-Bangladesh ties are one of them. The India-Bangladesh relations are exemplary for South Asia.’ On Monday, India gave ten broad-gauge engines to Bangladesh. The ceremony was held via videoconferencing. Foreign Minister Jaishankar was speaking on this occasion. Against this background, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister said Pakistan should apologise to Bangladesh for the genocide carried out by Pakistan during the 1971 war.

India gave Bangladesh 10 broad-gauge engines, on Monday. Foreign Minister Jaishankar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal showed the green signal through videoconferencing. Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Railway Minister Mohammed Islam attended the ceremony. Confidence is being expressed that this will provide an impetus to the connectivity and trade between the two countries. This aid provided by India to Bangladesh is a part of the Indian policy ‘Neighbourhood First’.

The rail network is being built between India and Bangladesh since 1996. The rail routes, between India and Bangladesh, which were discontinued after the 1965 war, are being reopened. Four of these routes are open and work is being carried out on the other three. Railway Minister Goyal said that these three routes would connect to Nepal and Bhutan. Last year, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had visited India. The discussions regarding railway engines had been held at that time. Till date, India has given, 42 engines and 120 coaches, to Bangladesh. The Railway Ministers expressed confidence that this cooperation will continue in the future.

Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said that the increasing cooperation between India and Bangladesh is exemplary for South Asia. The Indian Foreign Minister expressed confidence that both the countries will write the stories of bilateral collaboration in golden words. The Bangladesh economy is growing and the exports from Bangladesh to India also are growing. Jaishankar pointed out that there is an increase of 43% in the exports from Bangladesh to India, over last year. At the same time, S. Jaishankar further added that this economic cooperation given to Bangladesh would continue in the future. He also claimed that this increasing cooperation between India and Bangladesh would help in improving connectivity and trade between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the Kashmir issue with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh chose to ignore the issue. India too had lashed out at Pakistan. Thereafter, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister reminded Pakistan of the massacre carried out by Pakistan in Bangladesh during the 1971 war. Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen warned that Pakistan should apologise for the massacre.