"Let me begin by saying how delighted I am to see Her Excellency the Prime Minister of Bangladesh once again following our meeting last week in New York. Madam Prime Minister, I thank you for your kind words this morning and for inviting me to join you and the people of Bangladesh at this historic moment, when we embark on a new partnership for prosperity between our two countries.

Madam Prime Minister, the initiative we took during your historic visit to India in January 2010 is being realized today. The transmission line and the HVDC station in Bheramara provide a safe and reliable interconnection of the power grids of our two countries, which will enable supply of 500 MW of power from India to Bangladesh. A shared aspiration of our people has been translated into a concrete outcome. I would therefore like to congratulate you, your colleagues and the people of Bangladesh for this extraordinary accomplishment. I also wish to thank my ministerial colleagues, our technical personnel and officials at the Centre and in the State Government of West Bengal for implementing this landmark project in South Asia in such a short span of time.

Today, we are also laying the foundation stone for the 1320 MW Maitri Thermal Power Project being developed by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company, which is a joint venture of India’s NTPC Ltd and the Bangladesh Power Development Board. I extend my best wishes to the project and call upon the project authorities to observe the highest environmental standards in its execution, given that the Sunderbans are our common heritage.

The initiatives being undertaken today strengthen the bonds of friendship between India and Bangladesh and add a rich new dimension to our bilateral relations. Economic development is the biggest challenge for all countries in South Asia. Our destinies are inter-linked and so must our economies be. I have always believed – and I believe Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina shares my conviction – that the prospects for economic development in South Asia will be substantially enhanced through a partnership for shared prosperity between the countries of the region.

The key to shared prosperity is greater trade and investment in our region and improved connectivity through transport, road, rail, telecom, cyber and energy links. Today’s inauguration represents an important milestone in connecting our two countries and the broader region through a growing web of cross-border energy links and trade.

Madam Prime Minister, we applaud the significant progress that Bangladesh has made under your distinguished leadership, including in the area of energy security. Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia and its achievements in meeting the Millennium Development Goals stand as an example for the rest of the world. India wishes to see a strong and prosperous Bangladesh. I assure you that India will remain a steadfast and long-term partner in your development efforts.

I also wish to thank you, Madam Prime Minister, for strengthening mutually beneficial relations between our two countries. The Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development that we signed in Dhaka in 2011 provides the template for our cooperation in the future. In the past few years, our cooperation has made rapid progress in many areas. We do recognize that we have to make progress in other areas. We are committed to completing the tasks we had agreed upon in a manner that responds to the mutual aspirations of both our peoples.

The people of India and Bangladesh have always been good neighbours. In recent years, we have shown that we can pursue cooperative endeavours to harness the boundless economic potential of our relationship based on the principles of equality, sovereignty and mutual prosperity. I look forward with confidence to a future of deeper cooperation in energy and all other dimensions of our relationship. And I convey to you, Madam Prime Minister and, through you, to the people of Bangladesh my best wishes for success in all your endeavours for national development and prosperity."