Foreign diplomats shouldn't overreact

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday called upon the diplomats of different countries working in Bangladesh "not to overreact" to matters related to the recent killing of two foreign nationals.

"I asked the diplomats not to overreact because it encourages perpetrators," he told reporters after a meeting with newly appointed Sri Lankan Ambassador Yasoja Gunasekera at his secretariat office.

"Islamic State (IS) does not exist in Bangladesh. The Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir are behind these activities," he alleged.

After failing to achieve any good result by enforcing movement and carrying out militant attacks, they killed two foreigners, he said.

The two murders and the bomb attack on Hossaini Dalan are related, he said.

About the recent study published by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on parliament, he said, "So far I have never seen any positive report by TIB."

"We are heading towards a middle income country from a lower middle income one. The US president has praised us for our progress but TIB has not."

Tofail said, "TIB is not a political party at all but it seems to us that it has turned into a political wing of BNP."

Responding to a query, the senior Awami League leader said TIB was working so that a midterm election was held, but it would never happen in the country.

 Terming the latest TIB report "biased and intentional", he said the allegation of quorum crisis in parliament was false.

TIB does not publish any report on Bangladesh's development when many research organisations of the world talk about the country's development potentials, he said.

The minister also said Bangladesh would sign a "Free Trade Agreement" (FTA) with Sri Lanka soon to boost bilateral trade through removing barriers.

Bangladesh has already proposed to reduce the tariff rate on trade between the two countries to 5 percent from 13 percent for increasing trade, he said.

According to the commerce ministry website, in 2014-15 fiscal, Bangladesh exported goods worth $26.80 million and imported goods worth $66.65 million.

The minister said, "If the FTA is signed between the two countries, the trade gap will reduce significantly."