By IRNA,
New Delhi : India on Tuesday conferred ‘Indira Gandhi Peace Awad-2009’ on Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.
President Mrs. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil conferred the Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2009 on Sheikh Hasina at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion Mrs. Patil said that India is committed to strengthen the relationship with Bangladesh and believe that both countries have to determination to forge stronger bonds of cooperation and trust.
Patil said that both countries have common challenges which require close cooperation with each other. She said that India which is itself a target of terrorism will support Bangladesh in fighting divisive forces.
Accepting the Prize, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that India and Bangladesh are committed to peace as was also conceived by Indira Gandhi. She said India’s success with peace and progress is due largely to the strength of her democracy, nurtured under the stewardship of great and visionary leaders.
Hasina said that India and Bangladesh have a shared history, common values and ways of life and she will take to these relationship to a higher and meaningful level.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh appreciated Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina’s initiatives for socio economic developments of Bangladesh. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi also spoke on the occasion.
An international jury, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, chosed Hasina for her “outstanding contribution to the promotion of democracy and pluralism,” the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust said announcing her as the 2009 recipient of the prize.
Introduced in 1986, the award in past years has been given to, among others, Kofi Annan, Bill Gates, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mohammad Al Baradei, Dr Muhammad Younus, Wangari Maathai and Hamid Karzai.