Dhaka: Weeks after attacking the government for "selling out" to India, Bangladesh's main opposition party BNP has said it too wanted good relations with New Delhi in a manner that would "benefit both countries".
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia said this as she met the newly appointed Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Rajeet Mitter, who called on her last evening.
"We want to build the bilateral ties in manner which can benefit both the countries," Zia was quoted as having told Mitter by a BNP spokesman after the envoy had nearly hour-long talks with her at her Gulshan office last night.
The spokesman said Zia assured Mitter of extending all cooperation during his stay in Bangladesh.
The opposition leader's comments came after she had a heated exchange with the government following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi last month.
The BNP had said that Hasina has "sold out" the country by signing three agreements and two protocols with India that they claimed comprised national interest.
Zia also expressed apprehension that her archrival had reached a "secret deal" during her maiden New Delhi visit.
Hasina dismissed the allegations in the Parliament, saying: "The question of signing any secret deal doesn't arise at all (and) if the opposition knows anything about it, let them make it public".
The two countries signed three agreements on cross border crimes, terrorism and mutual legal assistance, and transfer of sentenced persons and under a joint communiqué Dhaka agreed to offer India port facilities alongside Nepal and Bhutan.
The opposition leader was particularly critical of the port facilities saying this deal "not only affected the country's sovereignty, but also exposed Bangladesh to economic vulnerability in the longer term".
In a related development, the mass circulation Prothom Alo newspaper published an opinion poll it carried out among 500 urban and rural people, saying 33 percent people supported the agreements and deals, six per cent were totally opposed to them and a large part of the rest did not have any idea about the treaties or understandings.
Dhaka-New Delhi relations have witnessed ups and downs in the past several decades but it is said to have witnessed its lowest ebb during the 2001-2006 tenure of BNP-led four party right-wing coalition.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 08, 2010, 15:26