India has total support to Sheikh Hasina’s leadership: Kwatra

Visiting Indian External Affairs Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday said New Delhi has total support to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership as he called on her at the premier’s official Ganobhaban residence.

“We’ve total support to you and your leadership,” a PMO spokesman quoted him as telling the premier during his courtesy call on while Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh considered India as a trusted friend and expressed hope that this friendship would deepen further.

Prime Minister’s Speech writer Md Nazrul Islam at a media briefing said Kwatra told Sheikh Hasina that the neighbouring country would remain on Bangladesh side in its development endevours including political and economic progress.

He said the Indian foreign secretary invited Sheikh Hasina to the 18th edition of the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit which would take place in New Delhi on September 9-10 this year.

The premier, he said, accepted the invitation and extended thanks to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, who as the current chair of the G-20 grouping of larger economies, invited Bangladesh as a “guest country” in its all meetings.

According to the spokesman the top bureaucrat of Indian foreign office described Dhaka-New Delhi ties to be “very firm” and said the entire world now valued the relationships as it reached to a strategic level.

“This relationship is being strengthened further,” he added.
Sheikh Hasina said both countries could work on the socio-economic development of the two neighbors.

Kwatra said New Delhi was trying to make the terms and conditions of Indian Line of Credit (LoC) easier so Bangladesh could avail the credit and repay it easily.

He said the own currencies of both the countries could be used to run bilateral trades and businesses.

Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary M Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma were present.