Banquet Hosted for Bhutanese Premier
PM for meaningful ties with Bhutan
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the relation between Bangladesh and Bhutan now needs to be turned into truly meaningful ties for mutual benefits.
Speaking at a banquet hosted by her in honour of Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley at Sonargaon Hotel yesterday evening, she mentioned the areas of cooperation in trade, tourism, hydro-power, climate change, health, bio-diversity, agro-processing, agriculture, forestry, IT, education and water resources management.
“Both the countries should, of course, be working in close cooperation to harness our synergies on these and other areas for the good of our two nations,” Hasina said.
In Bangladesh, she said, “Our aim is to strengthen democracy, achieve economic growth and make our citizens happy individuals.”
Bangladesh has already attained significant progress in food and energy security, education, poverty alleviation, empowerment of women, social welfare and development with sustained economic growth, Hasina told her Bhutanese counterpart.
“As we strive to reach our goals, we want the valuable cooperation of our friends and neighbours to strengthen our government's initiatives, including regional connectivity designed to make all of us in the region prosperous,” she said.
She said great opportunities lie before the countries in South Asia and urged all to seize those opportunities together.
Hasina said nowadays the democratic institutions are stronger, and the economy is on a sound footing. “The rule of law and human rights are established, and terrorism with all forms of extremism is on the wane,” she said.
The PM recalled her two visits to Bhutan after assuming power--bilateral visit to Bhutan in 2009 and for 16th Saarc Summit in 2010. “Your visit to Bangladesh now is of special significance as it would forge further enviable bonds between our two neighbouring countries,” said the Bhutanese PM.
She also recalled Bhutan's contribution to Bangladesh's Liberation War. “The Kingdom of Bhutan has a special corner in the hearts of all Bangladeshis, and a permanent niche in the history of Bangladesh,” she said.
Bangladesh and Bhutan share ancient linkage, common cultural values, religious traditions and geo-political realities, Hasina said.
The PM said history records exchanges between Buddhist scholars of Paharpur and Mahasthangar in Bangladesh, and the ancient monasteries of Bhutan.
Hasina expressed her happiness to know that PM Thinley would visit the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, and the world's longest golden sandy beach in Cox's Bazaar.
She said that the visit of her Bhutanese counterpart at some of ancient Buddhist relics to rediscover the past ties, and the Chittagong Port to see the potentials for use by Bhutan for transit to third countries would be significant one.
The Bhutanese prime minister widely appreciated the proposed enhancement of ties. “There are immense opportunities of Dhaka-Thimphu relations and we need to explore them for mutual benefit,” he said.
The Bhutanese premier also reviewed scopes of enhanced trade relations while he suggested enrolment of more Bhutanese students in Bangladesh's medical institutions.
Thinley highly appreciated Bangladesh's development initiatives under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina expecting the dreams of "Sonar Bangla" to be realised by her incumbent government.
He also paid rich tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and recalled that the then Bhutanese King had felt proud of his personal acquaintance with Bangabandhu, whom he considered as one of the world's greatest leaders.
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