India, Bangladesh members of same family: Modi
New Delhi, Sep 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described India and Bangladesh as members of the same family while inaugurating with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina a pipeline project and a railway project connecting the two countries.
"Geographically we may be neighbours, but in our hearts we are members of the same family," Modi said while addressing the event via video-conferencing from New Delhi.
"We have shown the world, what can be achieved when neighbours work together," he said, adding that there has been unprecedented progress in cooperation between the two sides in the last few years.
The India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline connecting Siliguri in India with Parbatipur in Bangladesh will transport petroleum products from Numaligarh Refinery in Assam.
Of its 129-km length, five km is in India and the rest is in Bangladesh.
At the same event, the ground-breaking ceremony of the Dhaka-Tongi-Jaydebpur railway project was also held.
The two projects come a little over a week after both the Prime Ministers inaugurated two railway projects and an electricity project connecting the two countries on September 10.
Stating that the pipeline will further boost bilateral cooperation, Modi said that energy was the cornerstone of any country's development.
"The pipeline will help in the development of the northern Bangladesh.
"Though it is being done with grant-financing from India, the project will be dedicated to the people and government of Bangladesh once completed."
Modi said the railway project will bring relief to road traffic in Bangladesh.
Speaking from Dhaka, Hasina said that ever since she formed her government in Bangladesh in 2009, she has been working relentlessly to deepen ties with India.
She thanked Modi for the two new projects which she said will help in the development of Bangladesh.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan joined the video conference from Delhi and Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali from Dhaka.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
