Hasina thanks India for naming road after Mujibur Rahman

New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday thanked the Indian government for naming a road here after her father and the country’s founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

"I appreciate naming a road after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," said Hasina at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj chose the road, thank you very much," she said.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a friend of India. A prominent road has been named after him," Modi said.

Park Street in Delhi, close to the President’s Estate, will now be known after the Bangladesh founder.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) approved renaming the road ahead of Hasina’s four-day visit to India.

Popularly called Bangabandhu, or friend of Bengal, Mujibur Rahman is credited as the central figure in Bangladesh’s liberation movement and considered the founding father of the neighbouring country.

India played a key role in Bangladesh Liberation War and provided substantial diplomatic, economic and military support to the country’s nationalists.