Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last night called his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina over the telephone and told her that New Delhi attaches the "highest importance" to relations with Dhaka.
Singh, who will be undertaking a two-day visit to Bangladesh from September 6, conveyed his "warm personal greetings" to Hasina and told her "how much" he was looking forward to the trip to renew contacts with his "old friends" there, said a statement issued by the Indian Prime Minister's Office.
The phone call was made around 8:00pm Indian time.
Hasina said "she personally and the people of Bangladesh are waiting eagerly to receive" Singh and "there are high expectations from the visit which she hopes would be a historic one".
Singh said, "A strong and productive partnership between the two countries was in the interest of the two peoples and the people of South Asia as a whole. His forthcoming visit would provide an opportunity to give added momentum and high-level political direction to bilateral ties which have been intensifying steadily in recent years."
The Indian PM noted with satisfaction that there had been an increase in high-level exchanges and cited Indian Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari's recent visit to Bangladesh, said the Indian statement.
Hasina and Singh decided to instruct their respective officials to work towards making the Indian Prime Minister's visit successful and substantive.
Singh underlined that "goodwill" exists among the political parties in both countries and encouraging people-to-people contacts was a priority in the relationship.
The telephone call from Singh comes amidst strong reaction in Bangladesh following his "off-the-record" remarks that 25 percent people of Bangladesh are anti-India.
Source: The Daily Star
