India, Pakistan congratulate Bangladesh’s Tarique Rahman on election win
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif offer congratulations, describing Tarique Rahman’s victory in Bangladesh elections as ‘decisive’ and ‘resounding’, respectively.
Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) says it has won a majority in Thursday’s landmark election and will form the next government. The Jamuna TV broadcaster, citing provisional results, says the BNP and its allies won 211 of the 299 constituency seats, while the rival Jamaat-e-Islami alliance won 70 seats. Official results have not yet been announced by the Bangladesh Election Commission.
Narendra Modi has conveyed his “warm congratulations” to “Tarique Rahman on leading BNP to a decisive victory in the Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.”
“This victory shows the trust of the people of Bangladesh in your leadership,” Modi said in a post on social media.
“India will continue to stand in support of a democratic, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh,” Modi added.
“I look forward to working with you to strengthen our multifaceted relations and advance our common development goals,” he said.
Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has shared his “warmest felicitations” with Rahman on leading the BNP to a resounding victory.
He also sent his congratulations to the “people of Bangladesh on the successful conduct of the elections”.
“I look forward to working closely with the new Bangladesh leadership to further strengthen our historic, brotherly multifaceted bilateral relations and advance our shared goals of peace, stability, and development in South Asia and beyond,” Sharif said in a post on social media.
Tarique Rahman, who became chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) following the death of his mother and Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, in December, had led the party from exile in London for nearly 17 years.
