Hasina to discuss controversial dam with Manmohan Singh

July 18th, 2009 DHAKA - Urging India to cancel plans to build a dam in an area near the Bangladesh border, opposition leader Khaleda Zia Saturday exhorted the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina "not to bow" to India on the issue. Zia offered the government "full cooperation" in resisting India's plans to construct a dam on the Barak river at Tipaimukh in Manipur, saying it would have disastrous impact on the environment in both countries, bdnews24.com news agency reported.

July 16th, 2009 Sharm el-SHEIKH - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet and discuss the nature of dialogue between the two countries in the future and will review action against terrorism. Manmohan Singh also made it clear that another Mumbai-like terrorist attack will affect dialogue of any kind.

July 15th, 2009 Sharm-el-SHEIKH - The use of Bangladesh territory by Indian insurgent groups, the contentious Tipaimukh dam, railway projects as well as other issues were on the anvil when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina here Wednesday. The two prime ministers met for the first time since their respective electoral victories and congratulations were also in order.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left Monday for a four-day trip to Paris, where he will attend the French National Day parade, and the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh for the 15th Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit. Manmohan Singh, who is the first foreign leader to be accorded the honour of being chief guest at the Bastille Day parade, will be in Paris for a day before leaving for Sharm-el-Sheikh.

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - Prime MInister Manmohan Singh briefly met with US President Barack Obama during the outreach meeting of G8 and G5 leaders at their summit here Thursday. Both leaders shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, Indian officials said here.

June 16th, 2009 YEKATERINBURG - Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in the next few weeks and review Islamabad's actions against terrorism before taking a decision on resuming their "composite dialogue", it was decided during talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari here Tuesday. The two leaders agreed to a meeting between their foreign secretaries to discuss the "primary issue" of terrorism and report to them before the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in the Egyptian town of Sharm-al-Sheikh in mid-July, officials said.

May 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will today meet President Pratibha Patil to discuss the details of swearing in ceremony.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Saturday rang up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulating him as India's ruling coalition was on its way to victory in the Lok Sabha elections. According to sources in the Prime Minister's Office, Manmohan Singh is expected to call on Sonia Gandhi later in the evening when all results of the election are known.

March 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will have his first meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London on April 3 and they are expected to discuss the situation in Pakistan.

March 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday called on President Pratibha Patil to discuss 'matters of national importance', an official said. A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said the two leaders met for about half hour.

January 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has wished Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who underwent a successful heart surgery, 'a quick recovery'. Obama, in his message to mark India's Republic Day, said: 'I wish Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh a quick recovery.' The prime minister underwent five bypass surgeries Saturday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

January 25th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has reiterated his government's commitment to peacefully resolve all outstanding issues with India to usher in an era of peace and prosperity on the subcontinent. In a message to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on Republic Day, Gilani said: 'It is a matter of pleasure for me to convey, on my own behalf and on behalf of the government of Pakistan, our warm felicitation to you and to the government and people of India on the occasion of the Republic Day of India.' This is the second time Gilani has communicated with Manmohan Singh in a week.

January 12th, 2009 DHAKA - Joint fight against terrorism and some of the long-pending bilateral issues will be discussed when Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits Dhaka in early February, an official said. Announcing Monday the tentative programme of the minister's visit, Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said the main concern of the Indian government was to ensure security in the region by eradicating terrorism, New Age newspaper reported.

January 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday congratulated his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina Wajed on assuming office and underlined that India accorded 'the highest importance' to strengthening its relations with Bangladesh. 'India attaches the highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh,' Manmohan Singh said in his congratulatory message to the 61-year-old leader whose party Awami League won a landslide victory in the Dec 29 elections.

January 3rd, 2009 DHAKA - India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to be here mid-January, among the first foreign dignitaries to visit Bangladesh after the new government led by Sheikh Hasina is sworn in next Tuesday. The outgoing caretaker government's Foreign Affairs Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury confirmed this, but said details of the visit would be worked out by the new government.