Om Birla attends swearing-in of new B'desh PM, says India stands ready to support BNP govt
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka, and said India stands ready to support Bangladesh's endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation.
Separately, the speaker called on the new Bangladesh prime minister and conveyed the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to Rahman to visit India, officials said here.
“Glad to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government of Bangladesh led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka today. India stands ready to support Bangladesh’s endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation,” Birla posted on X.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, said in a post on X, “Prime Minister Tarique Rahman conveys his greetings to India and PM Narendra Modi to the visiting India Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at a courtesy meet following the swearing-in of the new government.
“Speaker Birla conveyed wishes and an invitation to India. Both leaders expressed optimism to work together for the well-being of the people of Bangladesh and India, pursuing a people-centric menu of cooperation.”
Birla also met Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and other leaders on the sidelines of the event.
Led by Rahman, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept to power with a two-thirds majority with 49.97 per cent votes and 209 seats in the polls held on February 12, results for which were declared on February 13.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, registered its best-ever performance with 31.76 per cent votes and 68 seats.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) secured the third-highest number of seats, six, and 3.05 per cent votes.
Bangladesh had invited Narendra Modi to the ceremony, but the prime minister could not attend the event as he was scheduled to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai on Tuesday.
On reaching Dhaka, Birla said the swearing-in of Rahman was an important moment that would strengthen people-to-people relations and shared democratic values between the two neighbours.
“Honoured to be in Dhaka representing India at the swearing-in ceremony of the new government led by Tarique Rahman as the prime minister. It's an important moment that will strengthen people-to-people ties and shared democratic values between our two nations,” Birla said.
Birla was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and other officials.
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Bhurtel, Airee fire as Nepal snap 12-year winless run in T20WC, beat Scotland by 7 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Kushal Bhurtel’s early fireworks and Dipendra Singh Airee’s unbeaten fifty helped Nepal end their 12-year-long winless run in T20 World Cup with a seven-wicket triumph against Scotland in an inconsequential Group C match here on Tuesday.
Nepal had gone winless since 2014 when they beat Afghanistan and the Netherlands on T20 World Cup debut, but the Rhinos signed off from this edition with a memorable victory in front of more than 19,000 fans at the Wankhede Stadium here.
Chasing 171, Nepal responded with 171/3 in 19.2 overs with Airee’s quickfire 50 not out off 23 balls, with three sixes and four fours, being the highlight of their spirited chase along with Bhurtel's (43) inspired start.
Gulsan Jha (24 not out) also chipped in with two towering sixes at a crucial juncture, putting on an unbeaten 73-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Earlier, Bhurtel had a narrow escape when Brad Currie dropped a return catch and the Nepal opener rubbed salt on the wound with a huge six over long-on in the second over.
With their batters being under pressure, Nepal made a rather cautious start but took charge once their eye was in.
Aasif Sheikh (33) opened up with a six over fine leg in the fourth over, and in the next, Bhurtel clattered two sixes and a four off Mark Watt. As many as 23 runs came off Watt as Aasif finished with another powerful hit over square leg.
However, Nepal couldn’t sustain the momentum of raking in big runs as following overs from Scottish spinners saw the pressure building on the batters, resulting in a few wickets.
Bhurtel mishit a sweep off Michael Leask (3/30) and was caught at midwicket for a sparkling 43 off 35 balls with four sixes and a four. Soon after, Aasif went back in the hut when a thick edge off his bat was collected by Brad Wheal at short third off Leask.
Leask appeared to be all over Nepal when he had their skipper Rohit Paudel (16) caught by backward square leg in the 14th over. But in his final over, Airee hammered two on-side sixes and a four to collect 20 runs off the 16th.
Jha completed the formalities with a four off the 20th over, as Nepal won with four balls to spare.
Earlier, Michael Jones’ brisk 71 steered Scotland to a competitive 170 for 7.
Both the teams were out of reckoning for the Super Eights with the West Indies and England advancing to the next round from the group.
Barring Jones, who struck eight fours and three sixes in his 45-ball knock, Scottish batters failed to convert their starts but still managed to finish at a competitive total on a flat deck here.
It was Jones who did the heavy-lifting in his 80-run stand for the opening wicket with George Munsey, who failed to get any momentum despite staying in the middle till the halfway mark of Scotland’s innings.
While the right-handed Jones pierced gaps comfortably and met the ball with the sweet part of his bat to get boundaries at regular intervals, all that Munsey could do was play a second fiddle while managing 27 runs off 29 balls with four boundaries.
Munsey’s frustration of not being able to get a move-on was apparent when he fell on the final ball of the 10th over, connecting with an innocuous full toss from Paudel with the toe end of the bat. The Scottish opener smacked his bat in frustration when Sundeep Jora completed a fine diving catch in front of him at long-on.
But Jora and Nepal appeared to have claimed a skier when McMullen hit one off Nandan Yadav on the first ball of the 14th over.
Positioned at mid-on, Jora did not have to move more than five paces but to his credit, he kept his eyes on the ball. When the ball eventually did come back to him, Jora didn’t realise that it went through his hands and hit the turf while he fell on the ground in the process.
Jones continued to unleash his big hits and smacked a 94m hit straight into the balcony of his dressing room with the ball settling into the hands of his teammate Tom Bruce.
However, Jones’ innings ended soon after when Sompal Kami (3/25), coming round the wicket in the 16th over, cleaned up the Scotland opener and took a brilliant one-handed grab to take a return catch off McMullen.
