Dhaka: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina’s courage to fight terrorism despite being a woman and her bold stand against the menace by declaring “zero tolerance” towards it.
“We know solution for everything, but not terrorism. I am happy that Bangladesh Prime Minister, despite being a woman, has declared zero tolerance for terrorism,” the Prime Minister said in his hour-long address in Dhaka University. During his peech at the Bangabandhu International Convention Centre, Mr Modi accusing Pakistan of creating “nuisance” and “constantly” troubling India by promoting terrorism.
“Pakistan aaye din, jo naako dum la deta hai (Pakistan constantly disturbs India creates nuisance), terrorism ko badhawa deta hai...ki ghatnaayein ghatthi rehti hain (promotes terrorism and such incidents keep recurring),” Mr Modi said.
Earlier in a joint declaration at the end of his two-day maiden visit to Bangladesh, the two Prime Ministers — Mr Modi and Ms Hasina — expressed satisfaction at the unparallelled level of cooperation between the two countries on security related issues and reaffirmed their unequivocal and uncompromising position against extremism and terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
Making a strong pitch for reforms of the UN and its Security Council, Mr Modi said India has still not got a permanent seat in the UNSC. “India is a country which never fought to gain land. 75,000 Indian soldiers had sacrificed their lives for others in World War I, and 90,000 in World War II,” he said.
The Prime Minister also referred to India’s role in peacekeeping operations across the world, noting that Indian soldiers had fought alongside ‘Mukti Jodhas’ (freedom fighters) as well for Bangladesh.
“Yet India has still not got a permanent seat on the UN Security Council,” Mr Modi said. On the settlement of the 41-year-old land boundary dispute by swapping of documents regarding the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), he said, “If people feel LBA is a pact of a few kilometres of the land it is not true, it is a meeting of hearts rather than just an agreement”.
