Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the ruling Awami League will never compromise with the country’s interests while signing any deal with any country.
“We’ll do everything maintaining the friendly relations…there’ll be no harm to our country,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this while speaking at a programme marking the distribution of allotment letters of plots of Police Officers’ Housing Society among 25 police officials at her office.
Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave Dhaka for New Delhi on Friday morning on a four-day official visit when some crucial deals are expected to be signed between Bangladesh and India. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Tuesday said there are possibilities to sign 33 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) or agreements with India on various issues.
BNP leaders are repeatedly alleging that the government is going to sign a deal with India during PM’s Delhi tour ignoring the country’s interests.
PM’s press secretary briefed reporters after the programme.
The Prime Minister said, vested quarters will talk about many things in many ways. “But, if you keep your conscience awake and put it on the right path, you cannot sacrifice your country’s interests,” she said.
She said, the government is realising its due rights one after another from the neighbouring countries keeping the friendly relations intact.
Referring to Ganges water treaty, Hasina reminded all about BNP’s threat that they would not accept the deal if it was signed only for two or five years, saying: “But we’d signed the deal for 30 years.”
Turning to the remarks of BNP leaders about her upcoming India visit, she said they have no capability to do anything good for the country. “But when others are going to do something for the country, they’ll lay down conditions and won’t do anything,” she said.
About the Indira-Mujib treaty signed between Bangladesh and India, the Prime Minister said a vested quarter had criticised it as a slavery agreement, but Bangladesh received more territory when enclaves were exchanged under the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
She also came down hard on Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia for not taking any initiative to implement the LBA.
Hasina said, her government has settled the maritime boundary disputes with India and Myanmar through International Court and got its due share maintaining friendly relations with the neighbouring countries.She alleged that the BNP-Jamaat clique was involved in 10-truck arms-haul incident and patronising militancy and terrorism in the country.
The Prime Minister highly praised the law enforcement agencies, including police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), for successfully handling social menaces like militancy and terrorism.
Even in the developed countries, police could not apprehend the criminals before unleashing any terrorist act but the law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh are successfully capturing militants and terrorists beforehand, she said.
Lauding the police for their tireless services to the country, she said they have no certain working hours. “They should remain ready round the clock.”
Mentioning that her government recruited 41,000 police members in the last eight years, Hasina said it will hire 10,000 more.
She underscored the need for taking housing projects for government employees at divisional and district levels apart from the capital.
Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque expressed deep gratitude to the Prime Minister for implementing their dream project and said the project has become a reality only for her cooperation.
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum and senior police officials were present on the occasion.
