Hasina’s care packages of sweet mango reach Indian President, PM

India's leading media have widely carried stories on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's gifts of sweet Haribhanga mango that she sent to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other political leaders in India.

Some of the media outlets in India described the gift as a "mango diplomacy" while Dhaka says it is just sharing happiness with friends and neighbours in this historic year.

Prime Minister Hasina on Sunday sent 2,600 kgs of mango as a gift for Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, her counterpart Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Indian political leaders in India.

The mango packages reached Kolkata on Sunday via Benapole Petrapol land border and were later transported to Delhi via train.

The gifts were delivered to Indian President and Prime Minister separately on Monday, a senior official at Bangladesh Mission in New Delhi told UNB noting that it is taken very positively in India.

The gifts were also delivered to Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, too, he said. 

Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner in Agartala Mohammad Jobayed Hosen on Monday handed over 300 kgs of Haribhanga mangoes to Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb at his office.

The Chief Minister conveyed his wholehearted thanks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the gift and lauded Bangladesh's astounding economic development achieved under her leadership.

Talking to one of the Indian media outlets, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said it is part of a gift sent to Bangladesh's neighbours and friends as Bangladesh wants to share its happiness in this historic year of Mujib Borsho and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence. "So, we sent the mango as a gift to our neighbours and friends."

Bangladesh and India decided to commemorate December 6 as Maitri Diwas, the day when India recognised Bangladesh in the year 1971.

Prime Minister Hasina will also send mangoes to Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Bangladesh has already sent the delicious fruit to Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Lotay Tshering.

The Bhutanese prime minister, a graduate of Mymensingh Medical College, had tasted Bangladeshi mangoes during his stay in Bangladesh.

Leaders from West Asian countries of Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan are also likely to receive the gifts.