PM Narendra Modi greets Bangladesh on its Independence Day

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted the people of Bangladesh on their Independence Day, saying the country that has always been an important friend for India.

"Independence Day greetings to the people of Bangladesh, a Nation that has always been an enduring and important friend for India", he tweeted in English as well as Bangla.

Bangladesh celebrates the day in commemoration of the declaration of independence from Pakistan in 1971 by the "Father of the Nation" Sheikh Mujibur Rahman before he was arrested by Pakistani forces.

The declaration led to start of a guerrilla struggle against Pakistan to separate the country from Pakistan.

Independence for Bangladesh finally came in December that year after a nine-month guerrilla war against the Pakistan Army.