Dhaka: President Droupadi Murmu has said that Bangladesh occupies a special place in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. She made the remark after H.E. Mr Mustafizur Rahman, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, presented his credentials to the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 28, 2022.

“The India-Bangladesh relations are bounded by language, culture, and history, and the unique ties are forged in shared sacrifices,” she said. Welcoming the envoy, President Murmu mentioned that Bangladesh is the largest trade partner of India in South Asia and also recalled the joint celebrations of Mujib Year, the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s War of Liberation and the 50th years of establishment of Bangladesh-India diplomatic ties. She also spoke about her meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in September in New Delhi and later in London.

The Bangladesh envoy expressed thanks for the opportunity to present the credentials and conveyed greetings from President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He mentioned India’s moral and material support during the 1971 War of Liberation under Sheikh Mujibur’s leadership. “The Indo-Bangladesh cooperation, in fact, began in the battlefield of 1971,” he said, adding the bilateral ties have reached a new height and described it as a model of “neighbourhood relations”. He assured President Mumru that he would endeavour to further expand and consolidate the relations.

The envoy also thanked India for inviting Bangladesh to the G20 Summit to be held in September 2023.