Hasina gets Indira peace prize, vows no anti-India activity from soil

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Tuesday (June 12) honoured with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. The visiting PM said the two countries should work together to achieve peace and progress in South Asia.

“We want to have good and friendly relations with all our neighbours. We must work for a South Asia where peace, harmony and progress will prevail. Till we achieve this, our struggle will continue,” she said after accepting the award from President Pratibha Patil.

Recalling her association with Indira Gandhi, an emotional Ms. Hasina referred to the gruesome assassination of her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 18 other family members and said, “We had nowhere to go at that time. Our government then did not allow us to return to our homeland.” “It was Indira Gandhi who gave us shelter. We took political asylum and stayed in Delhi for six years,” she said, adding that Indira Gandhi was “truly like our mother.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underlined Bangladesh’s voice was today heard with respect in international fora and India was honouring “not only a great daughter of Bangladesh but a distinguished world leader.” UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said a peaceful, secular and democratic Bangladesh was India’s “wish and hope and we have no doubt that under your (Hasina) leadership it will be realised.” The award carries a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh and a citation.

Earlier, on June 11, the two countries signed five agreements which relate to mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, transfer of sentenced persons, fight against terror, organised crime and illegal drug trafficking, power cooperation and cultural exchange programmes. The pacts were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sheikh Hasina to add impetus to the bilateral ties that had been on the upswing since the last one year.

In a series of high-level meetings, Ms. Hasina also assured New Delhi that Dhaka would not allow its soil to be used as a base of operations by groups inimical to India, her Advisor, Abul Kalam Azad, said. “We are confident that this visit would serve to underline that strong India-Bangladesh relations are vital; not just for both our countries, but for the entire region and the international community,” noted Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. “The intention is to put in place mechanisms that would be irreversible regardless of the nature of the regimes in both countries,” said official sources.

The two sides also discussed an Indian credit line to build railway track in Bangladesh, an easier trading and investment environment and assistance in dredging of rivers.
Ms. Hasina, who arrived in New Delhi on a four-day state visit on Jan 10, laid a wreath at the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

- Asian Tribune -