Dhaka: A day after India and Bangladesh ratified an over 40-year-old land border swap agreement, Dhaka's media described Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country as a 'watershed and memorable' moment.
The Dhaka Tribune in an editorial article described the visit as a 'watershed' moment in the ties between India and Bangladesh.
"Modi has shown a strong willingness and capacity to overcome past bottlenecks in order to advance friendly relations and get new deals done. We trust his meetings with different political and business leaders and visits to national monuments, will build more goodwill and pave the way for closer and stronger ties," it said.
The front page of The Daily Star, in an article titled 'Dawn of a new era', said that 'Bangladesh and India yesterday opened a new chapter of hopes in their relations, fraught with dubious politics, myopic diplomacy and tardy bureaucracy over the decades'.
"Modi's words 'the future I dream for India is the future I wish for Bangladesh' also reflected the reality how India needs a strong and developed Bangladesh for its own interests because of Bangladesh's geographical position," it reads.
Leading newspaper Prothom Alo said in its editorial that Modi's visit was memorable for several reasons. "This trip will resolve the seven-decade-long boundary conflict and the problem of the enclaves," it said.
In a historic move, India and Bangladesh yesterday ratified an over 40-year-old land border swap agreement. The land swap agreement envisages transfer of 111 enclaves with a total area of 17,160.63 acres to Bangladesh, while Dhaka is to transfer 51 enclaves with an area of 7,110.02 acres to India. A 6.1-km undefined border stretch will be demarcated.
The Indian Parliament last month unanimously passed the constitution amendment bill to allow operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh deal and its protocol inked in 2011.
The Indian Prime Minister also announced a $2 billion Line of Credit to Dhaka.
Both countries also inked 22 agreements, including renewing a bilateral trade agreement, an agreement on coastal shipping, on using of the Chittagong and Mongla ports, and prevention of smuggling and circulation of fake currency notes.
