Coinciding with a two-day visit to Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi penned an op-ed to the country's founding father 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, envisioning a world where he was still alive. Rahman was assassinated in August 1975 as part of a military coup.
"As we look back on Bangabandhu's life and struggle, I ask myself, what could our subcontinent have looked like, had this modern-day giant not been assassinated," PM Modi wrote in the Daily Star. "A sovereign, self-confident Bangladesh, at peace with its neighbours, bearing friendship to all and malice towards none, was rising fast from the ashes of a painful war. If this had continued, perhaps India and Bangladesh could have achieved many decades ago some of the accomplishments that we were able to reach. For instance, India and Bangladesh were able to finally overcome the complications of history through the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement. It was a historic moment in the history of modern nation-states. But had Bangabandhu been at the helm longer, this achievement may have come much earlier."
"I am sure that with his visionary world-view, Bangabandhu would have dared to dream something even bigger for our subcontinent. With the spirit of the Liberation War energising us, and with Bangabandhu as the guiding star, this region, at least the Bay of Bengal area, might have been in a different reality now," he wrote.
Modi left for Bangladesh on Friday on a two-day visit during which he will take part in a wide range of programmes aimed at furthering cooperation between the two countries.
"PM @narendramodi emplanes for Dhaka. During his Bangladesh visit he will take part in a wide range of programmes aimed at furthering cooperation with our friendly neighbour," the PMO tweeted, sharing a picture of Modi boarding the aircraft.
The prime minister had on Thursday said he will hold substantive discussions with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina during the visit, as he expressed happiness that his first foreign tour after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic will be to a friendly neighbouring country with which India shares deep ties.
-Inputs from PTI
