No pact with India against national interest: Quader

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will sign no agreement against the national interest as well as sovereignty during her upcoming India visit scheduled from April 7 to 10.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be firm like the Himalayans to protect the country’s interest in striking any deal,” he told journalists after visiting the site of Dhaka Elevated Expressway to oversee progress of its construction work at the city’s Kuril Biswaroad area this morning.

The minister opined that there is no bar to signing a defence or civil deal if the national interest is protected.

Replying to a query, he said, “Teesta water sharing agreement might have not been inked now (during the premier’s India visit). It may be inked later, but a significant progress has been made to this end. So, there is no chance of being frustrated as signing the deal is a matter of time.”

Quader said the construction of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway was stopped for six months after the Gulshan cafe, attack (on July 1, 2016).

The construction work has now resumed, he said and hoped to complete the first phase by 2018 and the second phase by 2020.

Source: BSS