Guwahati, July 6: In a goodwill gesture, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sent 2,600 kg of her country’s famous “Haribhanga” variety of mangoes as gift for PM Narendra Modi and the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram with which the neighbouring country shares borders.
The consignment has been sent on Bangladeshi trucks, containing 260 boxes of the famous ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes that crossed the border on Sunday afternoon.
The Haribhanga mango variety, grown in Rangpur district in Bangladesh, was sent across the land border via the Benapole checkpoint into West Bengal of eastern India. The gift comes at a time when Dhaka has been a little dismayed regarding the delay in delivery of second doses of vaccine to Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a warm gesture, sent the seasonal fruit as a “souvenir of the friendship between the two countries,” Anupam Chakma, Deputy Commissioner of Benapole customs told media.
Mohammed Samiul Quader, the First Secretary of the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata, received the mangoes on the other side.
Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilometre-long (2,545 mi) international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, including 262 km in Assam, 856 km in Tripura, 318 km in Mizoram, 443 km in Meghalaya, and 2,217 km in West Bengal.
Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner, Mohammad Jobayed Hosen on Monday handed over a packet containing the mango to Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb who was elated after receiving those.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the India-Bangladesh friendship would remain intact,” the Chief Minister said in his tweet in Bengali while thanking the Bangladesh PM.
“Haribhanga” mangoes, widely grown in Bangladesh, play a pivotal role in uplifting the country’s economy. They are round in shape, black in color and are highly fleshy, fiberless, and typically weigh between 200 to 400 grams.
