Bangladesh to gain \\\'if India uses ports\\\': Tofail

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Monday said Bangladesh will gain economically if India uses Chittagong and Mongla ports.
The comment follows BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia reservations against allowing India transit facility free of charge.
The motor vehicle agreement to connect Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal by road said personal vehicles or those carrying goods or passengers would have to pay toll in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, he said.
Ministers from the four SAARC countries signed the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement at Bhutan’s capital Thimphu on Monday, bdnews24.com reported.
“Bangladesh stands to benefit more from the pacts we’ve signed with India. We will gain economically if India uses the Chittagong and Mongla ports,” Tofail told reporters at the Secretariat.
The BNP chief’s objection is ‘obsolete’ as opposed to the ‘advantages of regional connectivity’, he said.
“She (Khaleda) is a defeated soldier, she has lost in politics,” said the Awami League Presidium member about her meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Dhaka.     
“She met him after surrendering to India and saying that she’ll no longer be involved in anti-India politics.”
Khaleda ‘lied’ about why she cancelled her meeting with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee who visited Dhaka in March, 2013, said Tofail.
She told New Delhi-based news portal ‘The Sunday Guardian’ that there was a government plan to eliminate her and blame it on ally Jamaat-e-Islami during a shutdown called by the BNP-led alliance.