From Manash Pratim Bhuyan 
Dhaka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today declared that India and Bangladesh are not only near to each other geographically but also bonded together by hearts after the inking of the historic Land Boundary Agreement.

“While people thought we were just near (paas-paas) to each other, now the world would have to acknowledge that we are not just paas-paas but also saath-saath (together),” he said in his address to Dhaka University, a day after the two countries sealed a deal to settle the 41-year-old land boundary dispute through exchange of territories.

Referring to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), he described it as one which bonded hearts together.

Under the LBA deal, 111 border enclaves will be transferred to Bangladesh in exchange for 51 that will become part of India.

The Prime Minister, who was here on a two-day visit, said both India and Bangladesh wanted to establish the Buddhist circuit – and where there was Buddha, there could be no Yuddha.

He quoted a newspaper editorial that said that the Land Boundary Agreement was equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

He said the world would have to acknowledge that we are people who find ways to move ahead.

The Prime Minister said the era of expansionism in geopolitics has ended. He said the world now needs vikaswaad (development), not vistaarwaad (expansionism).

He said when Bangladesh progresses, India feels proud, because Indian soldiers too have shed blood for the birth of this country.

PTI