Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina was on an official visit to India from 7th to 10th April 2017.
India, Bangladesh sign 22 agreements;
In a bid to strengthen bilateral ties, India and Bangladesh signed 22 agreements for cooperation in various areas viz. civil nuclear cooperation, cyber security, media, judicial sector, peaceful uses of outer space, defence, information technology, electronics and transport connectivity.
- These agreements were signed in presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
PM Modi announces $4.5 billion line of credit to Bangladesh – India Commits $500 Million for Bangladesh Military
- After comprehensive talks between Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh, India announced $4.5 billion line of credit for development projects in Bangladesh.
- On account of this commitment, India’s resource allocation for Bangladesh has aggregated to $8 billion in past few years. Besides, for the first time, India also committed $500 million line of credit for Bangladesh’s defence procurement.
Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service launched
- With an aim to promote people-to-people ties and increasing connectivity, third bus service between Kolkata and Dhahka via. Khulna (in Bangladesh) has been launched. The distance covered by bus following this route will be 409 km.
- Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and Kolkata-Dhaka are the other two routes which are currently operational. On the Indian side, this service will be run by West Bengal Transport Department.
Modi, Hasina flag off trial run of India-Bangladesh passenger train
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee jointly flagged off the trial run of the Kolkata-Khulna passenger train through video-conference form New Delhi.
- This train service has been named as Maitree Express-II. Full-fledged operations of this train will commence from July 2017
India, Bangladesh to step up anti-terror cooperation
During Bangladesh Prime Minsiter Sheikh Hasina’s India visit, both countries committed to step up anti-terror cooperation. Indian Prime Minister Narednra Modi has termed spread of radicalism as a ‘grave threat’ to the peace and order of the entire region.
- Ms. Hasina has assured that her Govt. will continue to follow the policy of ‘zero-tolerance’ against terror and will take all necessary steps to ensure peace along the India-Bangladesh border.
Indian, Bangladeshi companies ink pacts worth over $9 billion
On April 10, 2017, top leaders of Indian and Bangladeshi business firms signed agreements worth $9 billion which mainly focused on energy requirements of Bangladesh.
- These agreements were signed at an event coordinated by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Most prominent ones are as follows:
| Agreement between Companies | Purpose | Estimated Value of the Deal |
| Preliminary pact between NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd and Bangladesh Power Development Board | For supply of power from Nepal | $3.15 billion |
| Supplementary agreement between NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam and Bangladesh Power Development Board | For supply of additional 60 MW of power from Tripura to Bangladesh | $138 million |
| Pact between Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd and Bangladeshi companies | For implementing a power project and supply of power | $2 billion |
| Agreement between Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL) and EXIM Bank of India | For debt financing of the construction of 1320 MW Maitree Power Project in Rampal, Bangladesh | $ 1.6 billion |
| Agreement between Reliance Power and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources | To set up power project and supply electricity | $1 billion |
Modi-Hasina release Hindi translation of Mujib’s autobiography:
After bilateral talks on April 8, 2017, PM Modi and Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina jointly released the Hindi translation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s autobiography – “The Unfinished Memoirs”.
- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Sheikh Hasina, was popularly known as ‘Bangabandhu’. He was the key leader in Bangladeshi liberation war against Pakistan and is thus regarded as founding leader of Bangladesh.
