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No decision on transit: Dhaka

DHAKA: The caretaker government’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury has said that his Ministry will never agree to any arrangement on the issue of transit to India which is contrary to Bangladesh’s sovereign national interest.

Referring to media reports on transit to India ahead of July 17-18 Foreign Secretary-level talks in New Delhi, Mr. Chowdhury said: “We are prepared to negotiate with any country on any subject, but no solution can ever be imposed on us without our consent,” the adviser said. “This is an axiomatic truth of our diplomacy.”

It may be mentioned that the political alliance led by Begum Khaleda Zia has announced plans to observe an “anti-aggression day” on July 17 that marks the Foreign Secretary-level talks.

The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, including their mouthpieces, alleged that the present caretaker government is set to give transit facility to India bypassing national interests.

On Thursday, Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakrabarty, after a meeting with Mr. Chowdhury, said India was interested in transit through Bangladesh and raised the issue in all the fora.

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