Transit facilities to India should benefit Bangladesh too: BNP

Bangladesh's main opposition BNP has said that it has no objection in giving transit facilities to India provided it also benefits Bangladesh and helps in generating revenue, as the party chief Khaleda Zia today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
"BNP has no objection to giving transit to India, but India should pay fees for using Bangladeshi territory," BNP standing committee member ASM Hannan Shah said, addressing a meeting held here yesterday to mark the 34th death anniversary of the party founder Ziaur Rahman.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader said the charges should be fixed in line with international practices.

He said transit had been earlier given to India on a limited scale by the Awami League government, "But it generated no revenue."
He said people would judge "how much of benefits come to Bangladesh and how much to India".
Transit through Bangladesh, for India in particular, earlier was seen as a contentious issue as BNP and its right-wing allies were opposed to providing the facility for "security and economic concerns".

After much speculation about possibilities of party chief Khaleda Zia's meeting with Modi, the ex-premier eventually made a courtesy call on him at his hotel suit.
BNP, known for its anti-India stance, earlier welcomed Modi's Dhaka visit, saying, "We hope the visit of India premier will strengthen the existing ties between two neighbouring countries".

Indo-Bangla ties have witnessed several ups and downs since Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan. The ties are said to have reached their lowest ebb during the 2001-2006 period when the BNP-led four-party right-wing government was in power with the fundamentalist Jamaat-e- Islami being a major coalition partner.
The party, however, has tried to repair its ties with India with Zia visiting the country on an official invitation in November 2012 which was seen by some analysts as a bipartisan consensus in Bangladesh over its relations with India.
Zia had warmly greeted Modi after his landmark victory in the elections.

Ahead of Modi's visit, BNP's spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon had said that it is not anti-India but its stand on issues like border killings and Teesta water sharing reflects the common public opinion.