‘I didn’t hide anything about pacts with India’: Bangladesh PM Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said today she hid nothing about the agreements she signed with India, rejecting her predecessor Khaleda Zia’s accusations that she failed to secure Dhaka’s interests and gained “nothing, but assurances”.

Zia, the leader of Bangladesh’s main political opposition party BNP, has criticised the four-day India visit of Hasina, that concluded this week, during which the two countries inked 22 agreements including in defence and civil nuclear sectors.

India announced a USD 4.5 billion Line of Credit to Bangladesh and an additional assistance of USD 500 million for its military procurement. But the two countries could not sign the long-pending Teesta waters sharing pact primarily due to opposition from West Bengal, through which the river passes.

Zia yesterday said that Hasina brought “nothing from India, but assurances”. She said the visit was Bangladesh government’s failure to secure its interests from its stronger neighbour, claiming Hasina’s Awami League government was “advised” by many political groups and civil society members against signing the defence deals with India. Hasina responded to Khaleda’s criticisms at a meeting of the Awami League’s Working Committee, bdnews24.com reported.

“The BNP leader said we kept the people in the dark while signing the memoranda of understanding (MoUs). I …read more