Hasina’s leadership has total support of India

Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra today said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has the total support of his country.

"You and your leadership have our total support," he said while paying a courtesy call on the Bangladesh premier at the Gono Bhaban.

PM's speechwriter Md Nazrul Islam briefed reporters afterwards.

The visiting Indian official said they are trying to make the terms and conditions of Indian Line of Credit (LoC) easier so that Bangladesh can avail of the credit and repay it easily.

He said the bilateral trade and business should be run with the use of the local currencies of both countries.

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

India will remain beside Bangladesh during its development journey, including political and economic progress, Nazrul quoted Kwatra as saying.

During the meeting, the Indian foreign secretary invited Hasina to the 18th Group of Twenty (G20) Summit set to take place in New Delhi on September 9-10 this year.

Accepting the invitation, the Bangladesh PM extended thanks to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

India, which holds the presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023, invited Bangladesh as a "guest country" to all its meetings.

Describing the bilateral ties between the two neighbouring countries as "very firm", Kwatra said the whole world now values the Bangladesh-India relationships, which has already reached a strategic level. This relationship is being strengthened further.

The prime minister hoped that this friendship would deepen further.

She said both countries can work on the socio-economic development of their people.

Kwatra arrived in Dhaka yesterday evening on an official visit to Bangladesh at the invitation of Momen.