Prime Minister Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina met at Hyderabad House on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, she was received by PM Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and accorded a ceremonial welcome. Bangladesh is an essential partner under India's "Neighbourhood First" policy.

Issues which are on top of the agenda for PM Hasina's trip are upgrading defence cooperation, expanding regional connectivity initiatives and establishing stability in South Asia. India and Bangladesh signed seven MoUs on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina in Delhi.

"The two countries have resolved many outstanding issues and we hope that all outstanding issues, including Teesta water-sharing treaty, would be concluded at an early date," said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

PM Narendra Modi and PM Sheikh Hasina have jointly unveiled Unit-I of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project. They also jointly inaugurated the 5.13 km Rupsha rail bridge, which is a key part of the 64.7 km Khulna-Mongla Port broad gauge rail project.

"I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the government of India and my Indian friends on the successful completion of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. At the new dawn of the Amrit Kaal for the next 25 years, I extend our best wishes as India moves forward to attaining the resolutions made for Aatmanirbhar Bharat," she said.

"Bangladesh PM Hasina called it a fruitful discussion whose outcome would bring benefits to the people of both countries. 'We had the meeting in a spirit of close friendship and cooperation," she added.

PM Modi said that mutual cooperation had increased in the last few years. "Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and I had a discussion on various bilateral, regional and international issues. We need to take lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and recent global happenings and must strengthen our economy," he urged.

"India-Bangladesh delegation level talks led by PM @narendramodi & PM Sheikh Hasina commenced. On the agenda are issues related to connectivity, energy, water resources, trade & investment, border management & security, development partnership and regional & multilateral matters," the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

7 MoUs signed between India and Bangladesh:

1. MoU to finalise an interim bilateral agreement on water sharing of the Kushiyara river
2. MoU signed between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, and Bangladesh Council of Scientific Industrial Research (BCSIR) on scientific cooperation
3. MoU signed between the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, and the Bangladesh Supreme Court to promote capacity building
4. The Ministry of Railways signed an MoU with the Bangladesh Railways under which India will train personnel of Bangladesh Railways at Indian training institutes
5. MoU signed between Ministries of both countries to collaborate on providing IT solutions to Bangladesh Railways
6. MoU signed between Bangladesh Television and Prasar Bharati
7. MoU signed between both countries to promote cooperation in space technology and scientific and research collaboration

Earlier, Hasina laid a wreath and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. She received a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Image courtesy: IANS