by Staff Correspondent– Top leaders of India and Bangladesh have underscored the need for further strengthening ties between the two next-door neighbours as they expressed satisfaction over the exiting friendly relations.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, during a bilateral meeting in the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, agreed to take effective steps to this end.

“Both the prime ministers expressed satisfaction over the existing deep relationship between Bangladesh and India, and agreed to take effective steps to strengthen further this relationship,” Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters after the bilateral meeting between the two top leaders.

The meeting took place at the official residence of the Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi.

The Indian prime minister also laid emphasis on resolving the outstanding issues between the two countries through amicable discussion, Momen told reporters.

The Indian side expressed gratitude to Bangladesh for its contribution to ensuring the existing peaceful situation in the North Eastern Indian states, he said

Bangladeshi premier Hasina is visiting New Delhi at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister to join the G20 Summit. Hasina left Dhaka for New Delhi in the morning and joined the meeting in the afternoon.

Hasina noted that after her successful visit to New Delhi, India on 04-08 September last year, a lot of visible progress has been achieved in various areas of bilateral interest, Momen said.

He said, Bangladesh requested India to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities from India as India is the second largest trading partner of Bangladesh.

The meeting agreed to accelerate the ongoing efforts to enhance bilateral and regional connectivity with India by rail and road sectors, he added.

Hasina also sought the cooperation of Narendra Modi for the speedy repatriation of the Rohingya Muslims living in squalid camps in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

Hasina extended her gratitude to Modi for inviting her to the “G20 Leaders” Summit in response the Indian prime minister congratulated his Bangladeshi counterpart for actively participating in G20 meetings.

Modi described the meeting with Hasina productive.

“had productive deliberations with PM Sheikh Hasina. The progress in India-Bangladesh relations in the last 9 years has been very gladdening. Our talks covered areas like connectivity, commercial linkage and more,” Modi said in micro-blogging site X.

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