India and Bangladesh sign five agreements

The agreements were signed on the first day of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's official visit to India.

They included a pledge by Delhi to provide a $1bn credit to improve Bangladesh's infrastructure.

The announcement was made after Sheikh Hasina met her Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh.

Officials say that much of the money provided by India will be used for improving Bangladesh's railway network and dredging the rivers shared between the two countries.

Sheikh Hasina assured the Indians that Bangladesh would not allow its soil to be used by groups "inimical to India".

Ties between the two have improved after Sheikh Hasina's Awami League-led government came to power last year.

Since then Bangladesh has cracked down on Indian separatist rebels sheltering in the country and handed over several senior rebel leaders to India.