Indian envoy meets Bangladesh opposition leader

Dhaka: Indian envoy here has met Banglaesh`s opposition leader Khaleda Zia and handed over a letter responding to her concerns about bilateral issues. "High Commissioner Pankaj Saran handed her over a letter during the meeting at her office" yesterday that lasted for some 50 minutes, Zia`s adviser and former foreign secretary Reaz Rahman told newsmen.

Without elaborating, Rahman said that the letter contained New Delhi`s response to Zia`s recent comments in Parliament on Indo-Bangla ties. They also discussed about the next general elections in Bangladesh, he said. Saran did not make any comment to newsmen as he came out of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief`s office while a High Commission spokesman briefly called it part of "routine" engagements with leadership of major political parties. Earlier on June 26, Saran met Awami League`s key strategic ally Jatiya Party Chairman and ex-president Hussein Muhammad Ershad, whose role appeared crucial in Bangladesh’s politics ahead of the elections. The Daily Star, quoting sources, however, said the envoy told the ex-premier that his country would not side with any political party in Bangladesh as it does not want to interfere in another country`s internal politics. The meeting came as Zia in her June 29 parliamentary speech alleged that killings of Bangladeshis continued on borders due to the "submissive policy" followed by the ruling Awami League. She also criticised the "government failure" to settle other outstanding issues including a long expected deal on common Teesta River and expressed concerns about the postponement of a scheduled and crucial meeting of Joint Rivers Commission and Indian move to build the cross-border Tipaimukh Dam on common Barak River. PTI