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Sunday, January 10, 2010

[chottala.com] Hasina accuses Khaleda of 'forgetting' issues



Hasina accuses Khaleda of 'forgetting' issues
Sun, Jan 10th, 2010 10:26 pm BdST
Dhaka, Jan 10 (bdnews24.com)--Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said opposition chief Khaleda Zia, when in office, forgets resolving bilateral issues like distribution of river water, maritime border and Tipaimukh with India.

Hasina made those comments in reply to Khaleda's comments on safeguarding national interests at a news conference on Saturday regarding her India visit.

"But she seems to forget these issues when in power. It is only natural though, given that she was born in India," said Hasina on Sunday before leaving on a much-hyped four-day trip to India where many long standing disputes, besides the three, are expected to come for discussion.
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Hasina was speaking at a discussion organised to mark the anniversary of Bangladesh's founding president 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's return to Bangladesh after the War of Independence in 1972.

During her speech Hasina said referring to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, "I thank her for wishing me success on my tour. But she did not go to Delhi to discuss these issues when she was in power."

Khaleda had advised the prime minister on Saturday that she should ensure Bangladesh's fair share of the waters of the common rivers, improvement of the trade gap and broadcast of Bangladeshi channels in India.

The former prime minister wanted Hasina to discuss these issues and strive towards resolving them with the national interest on top of her mind.

Hasina said on Sunday, alluding to Khaleda, "She was in power before me. But she did not bring the Teesta waters then. I brought the Ganges waters in my previous tenure; she could have done that with Teesta."

The media has been rife with contradicting statements from the government about the sharing of Teesta waters that flow through both the countries.

Although there had been indications that Bangladesh and India were close to striking an agreement, recent announcements say that it is unlikely during Hasina's tour this week.

Hasina said of Khaleda that she had not spoken about the Tipaimukh barrage when she was the prime minister but Awami League politicians had. The prime minister said, Khaleda did not speak of the maritime border for a single time. "She forgot about it altogether. It was us who had actually spoken about it."

She pointed that in 2005, during the tenure of the BNP-led alliance government, there was not even a meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission. "But we have engaged in negotiations on 52 rivers."

Ruling Awami League's general secretary, LGRD and Cooperatives minister Syed Ashraful Islam, said at the discussion that Bangladesh and India were not on good terms in the last seven years. Supporters of Pakistan wanted to use Bangladesh's territory to launch their campaign against India during the Khaleda-Nizami government.

He hoped for an improvement of relations between India and Bangladesh because both the governments had strong conviction in liberal democratic principles. "We don't want to keep Bangladesh insulated from the rest of the world."

He said the government was also keen on road connection between the Chittagong port and China, and rail connection to China through Myanmar.

bdnews24.com/rb/ta/bd/2049h.
 
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