Hasan terms his India tour ‘very fruitful’

Information and Broadcasting Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud Thursday said his recent two-day visit to India became ‘very fruitful’.

During his visit on September 6-7 last, Bangabandhu Corner was inaugurated at the Press Club of India in New Delhi, and he held meetings with the Indian foreign minister, information minister, foreign secretary, journalists and researchers, resulting in a fruitful tour, Hasan said.

He came up the outcomes of his India visit while exchanging views with journalists at his Minto road official residence here.

The information minister said the inauguration of Bangabandhu Media Corner at the Press Club of India is a milestone in the relations between the two neighbouring countries, while a full portrait of Bangabandhu has also been set up there.

About the outcomes of his meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, he said the Indian foreign minister informed that India's vaccine production was disrupted due to shortage of raw materials coming from abroad and they would be able to overcome this crisis within October-December this year.

“We hope, if vaccine production in India goes in full-swing, they will be able to supply the COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh as per the deal (signed between the two countries)”, Hasan said.

Besides, he said, they also discussed the prospect of Indian investment in the economic zones of Bangladesh with the meetings of Indian foreign minister and foreign secretary.

Noting that the overall scenario has been discussed with the meeting with Anurag Singh Tagore, the AL joint general secretary said the progress of Bangabandhu's biopic making, the commencement of work of the 1975 Liberation War-based filmmaking in accordance with agreement and the joint celebration of 50 years of India-Bangladesh friendship in 2021 were discussed.

“I also informed the Indian information and broadcasting minister of the strict enforcement of the law on clean feeds on foreign TVs from October 1,” he said.

Hasan informed about his luncheon with eminent journalists in Delhi, the unveiling of a book titled 'Bangladesh War Commentary' by UL Barua, the late director of All India Radio; organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs; and his interview aired on Doordarshan.

Through this visit, the relationship between the two countries and their people would be further strengthened, he said.

Responding to a statement of BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the AL joint general secretary said BNP's politics stands on blood, corpses and torture of people.

He said Fakhrul is involved in such a party whose leader Ziaur Rahman seized the state power by standing on the blood of the people, was deeply involved in the killing of Bangabandhu, killed hundreds of army personnel and ruled the country by standing on their corpses.

Mentioning that hundreds of AL leaders and activists were also killed at that time, Hasan said the remarks of Fakhrul are applicable for BNP as they killed innocent people by throwing petrol bombs on them and tortured people in the name of blockade under the leadership of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.