Bimstec summit: PM Modi discusses ties with Sirisena, Hasina

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties, officials said.

(L-R) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with Chief Justice and Chief Advisor of the interim government of Bhutan Dasho Tshering Wangchuk, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Myanmar's President Win Myint, Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena and Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in Kathmandu on August 30, 2018. (AFP)

“Held talks with PM Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu. We reviewed the full range of India-Bangladesh relations and ways to boost economic as well as cultural relations,” Modi tweeted.

An official said the two leaders reviewed bilateral ties and discussed issues of mutual interest. In her speech at the summit, Hasina spoke about the outreach meeting Modi hosted for BIMSTEC leaders that “gave a fresh momentum” to the grouping.

Modi and Sirisena discussed various developmental cooperation programmes between the two countries. “A number of projects we are doing with Sri Lanka was discussed and the Prime Minister reiterated that India is fully committed to ensuring that we will assist Sri Lanka in any way that it desires in taking these projects forward,” foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said.

“We would like to see the development of Sri Lanka as something to which India has contributed and which is of mutual benefit to the region.”

Earlier, Modi tweeted: “Delighted to meet President @MaithripalaS. We had extensive deliberations on various aspects of India-Sri Lanka friendship.”