Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to temples in Bangladesh should be viewed from a wider context and was part of the plan for a long time, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Saturday.
Addressing a media briefing on the Prime Minister's two-day visit to Bangladesh, Shringla said the Prime Minister had expressed his desire to visit Thakurbari in Orakandi as well Jashoreshwari Kali temple when he came to Bangladesh in 2015.
"In fact, he talked about visiting Kuthibari and other areas. He was very happy that he visited at least two places that he wanted to visit. He could not go to Kuthibari," he said.
"This was part of the plan for a long time and is something that was in the context of shared history and cultural links... It has to be seen in a larger context," he said.
Shringla said that India and Bangladesh have so much of shared history and cultural legacy.
"We are not countries that go to capitals, have meetings in drawing rooms, and go back. We are countries that have so much of shared history and cultural legacy that we visit different parts of each other's country," he said.
PM Modi on Saturday offered prayers at the temple in Orakandi in the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh and interacted with representatives of the Matua community.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi had offered prayers at the Jashoreshwari Kali Temple. Dedicated to Goddess Kali, Jeshoreshwari temple is a famous Hindu temple located in Ishwaripur -- a village in Shyam Nagar, Upazila of Satkhira. It is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths, scattered across India and neighbouring countries.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday accused the Prime Minister of seeking votes of a section of people in Bengal during his visit to Bangladesh and said Trinamool Congress will complain to the Election Commission.
Shringla said the two prime ministers held restricted format discussions and delegation-level talks and this allowed them to take stock of progress in various areas.
"This included some discussion on how we can preserve the legacy of 1971, commerce and connectivity, cooperation and water resources, security, defence, power and energy, new areas like Artificial Intelligence, environment, societal application of nuclear energy," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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