Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday concluded his two-day official visit to Bangladesh, a trip that sparked both violent protests and enthusiasm that relations between the two neighbors would continue to grow.
Modi arrived on Friday to join celebrations of Bangladesh’s 50th anniversary of independence, but the visit was overshadowed by violent protests in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere.
At least four people were killed and 40 injured in clashes between protesters and Bangladeshi security officials.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Critics accuse Modi’s Hindu-nationalist party of stoking religious polarization in India and discriminating against minorities, particularly Muslims.
In the past few weeks, demonstrators in Muslim-majority Bangladesh had urged the Indian leader not to visit and criticized Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for inviting him.
The relationship between Bangladesh and India is crucial as they are next door neighbors and India is Bangladesh’s largest trading partner in South Asia.
While China is involved with almost all major infrastructure development schemes in Bangladesh, India is also more eager to take up joint projects.
On Saturday, Modi and Hasina witnessed the signing of five agreements involving trade, disaster management, information technology and sports, Hasina’s spokesman Ihsanul Karim told reporters.
They also jointly laid the foundation stones for infrastructure development for power evacuation facilities of an under-construction nuclear power plant.
A new train service between Bangladesh and India was also launched by the two leaders.
Modi also traveled outside Dhaka to pray at two temples. At one, he met the descendants of the founder of a Hindu sect, a visit seen by many as a bid to woo voters in India as voting started on Saturday in several state-level elections, including in West Bengal, which borders Bangladesh.
With an eye on galvanizing Hindu support in the key battleground state, Modi made the trip to the temple, which is sacred to the Matua community in West Bengal.
The Matua sect’s vote is expected to determine the winner of at least seven seats in a close race for control of the state assembly. Hundreds of members of India’s Matua community visit the temple every year.
On Saturday, protests continued in Dhaka and outside.
In Dhaka, a few hundred protesters belonging to Hefazat-e-Islam demonstrated outside the city’s main Baitul Mukarram Mosque, but it remained peaceful.
Police clashed with protesters in the northeastern district of Habiganj, leaving at least 20 people injured, Dhaka-based Independent Television reported.
The station said that protests also took place in some other cities and towns.
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