Bangladesh's interim government wants good neighbourly ties with India on the basis of fairness, equality and dignity, journalists were told a day before an important Dhaka-Delhi consultation.
"We have cultural, linguistic, and historical links with India," said Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser, at a press briefing Sunday in response to a question regarding the foreign office consultation (FOC) meet between the two countries scheduled for today.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who will lead his country's delegation at the talks, is likely to meet Chief Adviser of the post-uprising government Prof Yunus, the press meet was told.
Asked when Bangladesh will request India to extradite former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Alam said it would be done after certain processes dictated in the extradition treaty between the two countries.
He said issues of common interest between the two neighbours would be discussed at the FOC. He also said instead of spreading propaganda, Indian journalists should visit Bangladesh to have the real picture of the minorities' situation here.
Also, as scheduled, the chief adviser would confer with 28 European countries' diplomats stationed in Dhaka and Delhi today on the current affairs of Bangladesh and matters of economic cooperation.
Responding to a question, Alam said soybean-oil prices would become stable in the coming days and that the government is looking into the sudden price rises despite sufficient supply.
Deputy Press Secretary Apurba Jahangir told the reporters that the comment made by Education Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud on election schedule was his personal. "He [Mahmud] recently said he wants to see an elected political government next year. Only the chief adviser can say when the elections will be held," added Jahangir.
Meanwhile, Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, an adviser of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as a former head of the United Nations Development Programme, Sunday called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the state guesthouse Jamuna in Dhaka.
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