Bangladesh seeks link to Bhutan via India

Thimphu, Nov 7 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought a road to Bhutan through India for bettr trade and people-to-people contact. She told her hosts at this Bhutanese capital that India had accepted the idea in principle.

Bangladesh and Bhutan could develop land communication through India at three points in Bangladesh -- Burimari Port (Lalmonirhat), Tamabil (Sylhet) and Naoka (Sherpur) -- she said while speaking to Bhutanese Foreign Minister Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) reported Saturday.

Hasina arrived in Thimphu on a four-day official visit Friday.

She said her Foreign Minister Dipu Moni had talked to the Indian government about direct land communications between Bangladesh and Bhutan, and India's response has been positive.

The prime minister told Tshering that Bhutan could use Bangladeshi ports, especially Mongla Port, for carrying out trade with any third country.

Hasina also reiterated her call to introduce package tourism among Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan for best utilising the tourism prospects of the three South Asian countries, saying it will expedite national and regional development.

The visiting prime minister called for closer fraternity among the South Asian countries for poverty alleviation and tackling threats posed by climate change as she described the two as "common enemies" of the region.

Hasina praised the Bhutan's king for "voluntarily" establishing democracy in this Himalayan country, New Age newspaper said Saturday.

She said democracy presently existed in all the South Asian countries making way for working together in full-swing for ensuring people's economic emancipation in the region.

--IANS