Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina:

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Mr President, thank you very much for finding the opportunity to take part in our ceremony.

Mr Moderator, guests, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev, and all our colleagues invited to the ceremony, As-salamu alaykum.

I wholeheartedly welcome you all to the ceremony held to mark the delivery of nuclear fuel to the Rooppur NPP. Thank you very much.

It is a day of special pride and joy for the people of Bangladesh. The delivery of nuclear fuel to the Rooppur NPP, which is the result of hard work by the government of the Awami League party, marks a new stage in the construction of the plant.

On this remarkable day, I would like to most respectfully commemorate Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as well as four national leaders, three million heroes of our struggle for independence, and 200,000 humiliated mothers and sisters.

I would also like to express gratitude to the Government and people of the friendly Russian Federation, which provided much-needed assistance in our struggle for independence and in the post-war reconstruction of our ruined country, and which also gave us a helping hand in the implementation of the much-anticipated Rooppur NPP project.

Our countries have marked 50 years of bilateral relations. I would like to remind you that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made a historic visit to Russia. We will not forget this. Today will go down in history, and I would like to remind you that the Father of the Nation gave Bangladesh a constitution nine months after we gained independence. Article 16 of our Constitution, titled Rural Development and Agricultural Revolution, says: The State shall adopt effective measures to bring about a radical transformation in the rural areas through the promotion of an agricultural revolution, the provision of rural electrification, the development of cottage and other industries, and the improvement of education, communications and public health.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wanted to build a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh with the assistance of Russia, specifically with the assistance of Russia. The steps which the Father of the Nation took back then have helped us launch this project.