Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday stressed the importance of signing the Teesta water‐sharing deal at the earliest saying the India‐Bangladesh relations will undergo another transformation once it happens.

‘On Teesta issue, Prime Minister Modi once again reiterated his government’s strong resolve to conclude the water‐sharing treaty at the soonest. Once it happens, the face of Indo‐Bangladesh relations will undergo another transformation,’ she said.

The Prime Minister said this while delivering her speech at a reception accorded to her at The Imperial hotel here by India Foundation.

She said Bangladesh strongly believes that the common water resources ‘must act as a uniting force’. ‘A comprehensive, basin‐wide solution with an in‐built solution to water sharing of all the common rivers holds the key to our common future,’ she said.

But, Sheikh Hasina said, she does not know what Mamata Banarjee will do. ‘I don’t know what Didi Moni (Mamata) will do,

I have talked to heras well, she has shown something new, but Modi Ji (Narendra Modi) has assured us…we’re sitting here to see what’s going to happen,’ she said in Hindi amid huge clapping.

The Prime Minister also thanked Mamta Banerjee for agreeing to give electricity to Bangladesh. ‘We’ve got electricity after demanding water. Ok, at least we’ve got something,’ she said.

Hasina mentioned that the friendly relations always give good opportunities, especially for the people and their wellbeing.

‘Indian friendship is very much important for Bangladesh, and we cherish the Bangladesh‐India relationship... this is not about small or big country, we’re all independent and sovereign country, big or small that does not matter here,’ she said.

Hasina also said both countries respect each other. ‘Friendship is above all, by this we can resolve any problem, I believe that by quarrelling we can’t solve any problem, we’ll advance together with equal dignity and friendship.’

Talking about terrorism and violent extremism, the Prime Minister said the journey towards peace and prosperity is put to peril by the rise of these two social menaces.

‘Security threats from state and non‐state actors tend to undermine our efforts to integrate our economies and societies.

We need more concerted efforts to strengthen the protection of our societies,’ she said.

Sheikh Hasina mentioned that Bangladesh has comprehensively addressed India’s security concerns that has been a factor in trust building. ‘We’ve put in place a multi‐layered and effective bilateral security architecture with many dedicated joint institutional mechanisms for targeted and coordinated actions,’ she added.

The Prime Minister informed the audience that Bangladesh and India have witnessed tremendous progress in almost all sectors of cooperation namely, connectivity, power, trade and commerce, health and cultural exchange.

‘In Bangladesh, we’ve envisioned to become a middle‐0income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041. India is our partner in this path to progress,’ she said.

Saying that Power sector cooperation has been another high point of the relationship, Hasina said, ‘We’re importing electricity from India through grid‐interconnection. We’re also collaborating in other sectors of energy namely, renewables such as solar, wind and hydro, offshore exploration, LNG, LPG, diesel, to name a few.’

Hasina went on saying, ‘We’re identifying hydro‐power projects in Bhutan and Nepal for joint development and import of power to Bangladesh across Indian territory.’

Talking about the trade, the Prime Minister said that Bangladesh is extensively focusing on expansion of trade in a more open, beneficial and balanced manner by addressing the issues of trade barriers, harmonisation of standards, development of trade infrastructures, mutual recognition of certificates.

‘To address the trade deficit, we’re also working on getting more investment from India particularly in the Special Economic Zones in Bangladesh. Already we’re seeing great interest from the biggest business houses in India,’ she said.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Advisory Group of Bhartiya Janata Party L K Advani in his speech highly appreciated the role of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in taking the Indo‐Bangla relationship in a new height.

He also requested Sheikh Hasina to play the role of mediator for building such relation between India and Pakistan.

Indian Commerce Minister and director of Indian Foundation Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the welcome speech.