India, China congratulate Sheikh Hasina on her victory in Bangladesh general polls

Dhaka, Dec 31: The overwhelming victory of Sheikh Hasina in the just concluded general elections in Bangladesh will have its impact in both the foreign policy-makers' room in India and China, the two regional big powers that expect to see the small South Asian as a close friend of theirs.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Hasina on Monday, December 31, to congratulate her on the landslide win, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang also conveyed their good wishes to the Bangladeshi leader who won her third consecutive term since 2008. Hasina's Awami League swept the elections winning over 260 seats (as per unofficial results) in the 300-member parliament in the elections that were held on Sunday, December 30.

While Modi expressed hope that the India-Bangladesh partnership will continue to flourish under the "far-sighted" leadership of Hasina, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang Zuo highly praised Hasina for her leadership that has seen Bangladesh progressing on the path to development and hoped that her Vision-2021 will materialise successfully and Bangladesh will become a middle-income nation by 2021 under her leadership.