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PM will consult Khaleda about agenda, hopes BNP

May 30, 2015 00:00:00


The BNP hopes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will 'consult' Chairperson Khaleda Zia before setting the agenda of discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit, reports bdnews24.com.

Party spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon, referring to news reports, said Hasina would discuss several issues with Modi.

She should raise the issues such as implementation of Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), killings along the border and Teesta-water sharing, the party's International Affairs Secretary Ripon said.

"We hope Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will speak to Khaleda Zia before identifying the unsettled issues between Bangladesh and India," he said.

"She can also consult the experts of our party," he added.

Ripon said the demands to share the water of the Teesta river or an end to killings along the border are not of a single party.

"We want these demands to be presented as those of the nation," Ripon said.

Modi is coming to Dhaka on June 6 on his maiden state visit to Bangladesh.

Ripon also reiterated that his party had never been 'anti-India' and will never be.

"Our agenda is to speak for the sake of the country's people, development and sovereignty," he said.

He praised Modi for his 'administrative neutrality'. "India's public administration is never used for political purposes."

"But Bangladesh's administration is deeply mired in politics," Ripon said.

Highlighting that Pashchimbanga Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also coming with Modi, the BNP leader said, "India consults its state governments before signing any international deal. This is the beauty of democracy."


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