The Republic Day is celebrated every year on Jan 26 to honour the date in which the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950, three years after independence. With the extension of the third Line of Credit of 5 billion dollars, Bangladesh became the "largest development partner of India." The two prime ministers, along with the leaders of Afghanistan, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, also jointly launched the South Asia Satellite in May 2017. "Our external affairs minister underlined the importance India attaches to Bangladesh by stating that, in India’s Neighbourhood First policy, Bangladesh stood foremost," the high commissioner said. "We have also had a good start to 2018 with the foreign minister of Bangladesh having visited India earlier this month at the invitation of our external affairs minister."

Source: bd News24 January 26, 2018 16:41 UTC