New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2009 on Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina atRashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh called Hasina an “outstanding
political figure of South Asia” who worked tirelessly for the
restoration of democracy in Bangladesh.
“Today we honour not just a great daughter of Bangladesh but a distinguished world leader,” the PM said.
Hasina
is not just a friend of India but a great admirer of the Nehru-Gandhi
family and remembers the help extended by Indira Gandhi to Bangladesh
during its freedom struggle.
Hasina also attended a meeting of
Indian and Bangladeshi businessmen organised by the Confederation of
Indian Industries (CII) later in the day. She met Indian businessmen
who are once again looking to invest in Bangladesh, including Tatas,
who had scrapped a $3-billion project planned in Bangladesh.
Under
a national campaign “digital Bangladesh”, Bharti Enterprises and Warid
Telecom of Bangladesh have made a $300-million deal to work together in
the telecommunications segment. Meru Cabs and Tata also presented a
plan to launch 10,000-20,000 radio controlled taxis to address
transportation problems in Bangladesh.
A joint statement issued
at the end of the official visit noted that the two countries are
committed to democracy, pluralism and rule of law and have rejected
violence, extremism and terrorism.
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