‘True friend’: Sheikh Hasina condoles Pranab Mukherjee’s death in letter to PM Modi

In the letter, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina wrote about Pranab Mukherjee’s support and contribution in strengthening relations between the two countries and said that he will always be “remembered with the deepest respect” in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina condoled the death of India’s former president Pranab Mukherjee on Monday. In a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sheikh Hasina called the Congress veteran “a highly esteemed leader of South Asia” who “commanded the respect and admiration of all”.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. (Reuters)

“As a renowned scholar and statesman of India, and a highly esteemed leader of South Asia, Pranab Mukherjee commanded the respect and admiration of all. The tireless work of ‘Bharat Ratna’ Pranab Mukherjee for the welfare of the people of India will inspire the future generation of leaders not only in India but across the countries in the region,” the Bangladesh prime minister wrote in the letter.

She called Mukherjee a “true friend” and said that “he was always been highly revered and loved by the people of Bangladesh.”

In the letter, she also wrote about Mukherjee’s support and contribution in strengthening relations between the two countries and said that he will always be “remembered with the deepest respect” in Bangladesh.

“In 2013, in recognition of this luminary, the government of Bangladesh conferred on him ‘Bangladesh Muktijuddho Sommanona’ (Liberation War Honour) for his valuable contribution to Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 1971,” she said.

“On behalf of the government and the people of Bangladesh, I express our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the government and the people of India on the irreparable loss of this veteran leader,” she also said in the letter.

Mukherjee, a veteran politician, died on Monday evening following a 21-day battle with multiple ailments. He was 84 and was survived by his two sons and a daughter.

On August 10, he was admitted to the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital and was operated for a removal of a clot in the brain the same day.

The long-time Congress leader and seven-time parliamentarian had tested positive for Covid-19 at the time of his admission and was being treated for a lung infection. He had suffered a septic shock on Sunday due to it.