Padma Bridge hits global media

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina on Saturday inaugurated the much-awaited Padma Bridge, the largest bridge ever built in Bangladesh, over the Padma River.

However, along with Bangladeshi media, several renowned media outlets across the world have also covered the inaugural ceremony prominently.

Here are some of the excerpts from the coverage:

Bangladesh marks opening of country’s longest bridge: AP

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday celebrated the opening of the country’s longest bridge, which took eight years to build amid setbacks involving political conflict and corruption allegations.

The 6.51-kilometer (4.04-mile) bridge spanning the Padma River cost an estimated $3.6 billion and was paid for with domestic funds after the World Bank and other global lending agencies declined to finance the project following a graft scandal involving a Canadian construction company, reports AP.

The bridge will open for vehicular movement on Sunday.

PM Hasina opens Bangladesh’s longest bridge over River Padma: Aljazeera

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday inaugurated the landmark Padma Bridge over the turbulent Padma River after years of delay due to allegations of corruption that forced the World Bank to walk away from the nearly $4bn mega project.

Bangladesh’s longest bridge to date has been dubbed a “symbol of national pride”, reports Aljazeera.

In 2012, the World Bank withdrew from a $1.2bn loan agreement for the project following allegations of corruption. Following suit, other donors, including Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), also pulled out of the project.

Bangladesh opens bridge plagued by graft claims, lynchings: AFP

Bangladesh on Saturday opened an important bridge near the capital Dhaka after a long construction plagued by delays, graft allegations, and even deadly lynchings sparked by rumours of human sacrifice. The inauguration of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge -- now officially the country’s longest -- caps a key infrastructure goal by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the nearly eight years since construction began.

“This bridge is not just bricks, cement, iron, and concrete,” Hasina told a crowd of nearly a million people who had gathered along the river’s banks for its opening ceremony.

Bangladesh Unveils Padma River Bridge: VOA

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday inaugurated the country’s longest bridge, which took eight years to build and was plagued by delays, political conflict, high costs and graft allegations.

The opening of the bridge over the turbulent Padma River caps a key infrastructure goal by Hasina and has been billed by her government as the jewel in its crown, which shows the grit, determination and resilience of the administration in the face of international pressure and domestic criticism, reports Voice of America.

PM Sheikh Hasina Inaugurates Bangladesh’s Longest Rail-Road Bridge: NDTV

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday inaugurated the long-awaited Padma Bridge, the country’s longest and entirely built with domestic funding, reports NDTV.

The 6.15-km-long road-rail four-lane bridge is built over the Padma River that connects southwestern region of Bangladesh with the capital and other parts.

The multipurpose road-rail bridge, which is fully funded by the Bangladesh government, has been constructed at a cost of $3.6 billion.

The inauguration of the Padma Bridge carries a lot of significance as the structure was built entirely with domestic financing, defying speculations by some financial analysts if Bangladesh could mobilise the fund depending on domestic resources.

PM Hasina opens Bangladesh’s longest bridge: The Economic Times

The inauguration of the Padma Bridge carries a lot of significance as the structure was built entirely with domestic financing, defying skepticism from some financial analysts if Bangladesh, which will only graduate from the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) list in 2026, could mobilise the fund depending on domestic resources, reports The Economic Times.

“This bridge is not just bricks, cement, iron, and concrete… This bridge is our pride, a symbol of our capacity, our strength and our dignity. This bridge belongs to the people of Bangladesh,” she said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opens Padma Bridge: The Hindu

The Government of India Saturday congratulated Bangladesh on the completion of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.

Praising the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said the project illustrates the bold decision-making abilities of PM Hasina, reports The Hindu.

“The Padma Bridge will not just help the internal connectivity of Bangladesh but will also improve trade and logistics between India and Bangladesh. This bridge will play an important role in improving bilateral India-Bangladesh and subregional links,” said the Indian mission in a congratulatory message.

Alongside the above mentioned media, Pakistani newspaper DAWN, Tribune Pakistan, Indian media like Indian express Tribune India, and Malaysian newspaper the Malaysian Insight published stories quoting AFP, while The Washington Post quoted AP in their story.