BNP hopes PM Hasina will consult Khaleda Zia before Modi’s visit

The BNP hopes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will ‘consult’ Chairperson Khaleda Zia before setting the agenda of discussion with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit.

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, killings along the border and Teesta-water sharing, the party’s International Affairs Secretary Ripon said.
 
“We hope Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would 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 river Teesta or an end to killings along the border were 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 Jun 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 purpose.”
 
“But Bangladesh’s administration is deeply mired in politics,” Ripon said.
 
Highlighting that West Bengal 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.”