BNP wants PM, chief to discuss

BNP yesterday called upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss Bangladesh-India bilateral issues with party chief Khaleda Zia and its experts before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh.

"Based on the outcomes of the discussion with BNP's chief, the prime minister will tell her Indian counterpart that the demands which she placed are not of the ruling Awami League, but every party of the country endorsed those," BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon told a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office in the capital.

Key issues like the land boundary agreement, sharing of the Teesta river waters, and sub-regional connectivity will feature prominently during Modi's two-day visit starting on June 6.

Ripon, the foreign affairs secretary of BNP, said the party had political and ideological differences with the governing party but they were ready to extend all-out cooperation to the AL-led administration to make its efforts successful. 

"India's government generally engages political opponents when it needs to reach consensus on any issue with other countries; it's a spirit," he said. "This is the beauty of democracy."

Responding to a query, he said no meeting between Khaleda and Modi was scheduled yet.

Ripon also said, "BNP was never engaged in anti-India politics; it does not do that and never will in the future."