bdnews24.com, May 3, 2017 a 22:09:31.0 BdST
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said details of the defence deals and memoranda of understanding signed with different countries will be presented in Parliament once notices are received.
The prime minister, in reply to an MP’s query in Parliament on Wednesday, mentioned names of several countries with which Bangladesh signed defence cooperation MoUs.
“I can give all the details of deals signed with other nations if I wish to do so. I will present these if I get another notice,” she said.
In line with parliament’s Rules of Procedures, any member can ask for a discussion on any matter of urgent public importance by giving notice.
Hasina was responding to a question from reserved seat MP Fazilatun Nasa Bappy who asked: “if any country other than India has signed defence deal with Bangladesh.”
She specifically asked Hasina to inform Parliament about the defence deal signed with China.
In response to Bappy’s query, the prime minister said Bangladesh has such deals and MoUs with several countries including China, Russia, Kuwait, and Qatar.
“The memorandum of understanding with China was signed during the BNP’s tenure. They did not let anyone in Bangladesh know anything about that deal, not even Parliament,” the prime minister said.
Bangladesh signed 22 agreements and MoUs with India during Hasina’s visit to New Delhi last month. The BNP has protested against three defence MoUs with India signed at the time, saying that those pushed the country’s existence in danger.
Refuting the BNP’s allegation, the prime minister said in Parliament: “No deal or memoranda of understanding signed during my India visit was against the country’s interests. So, the allegations that anti-Bangladesh deals were signed with India are utterly false, imaginary, injudicious, and aim at misleading the people.”
“Bangladesh is an independent country with self-respect. The Awami League will never sign any deal that goes against Bangladesh’s interests,” she added.
She also said a deal to share the Teesta river water with India was important to her government.
She noted that her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi said during her New Delhi visit that the Teesta water-sharing deal would be signed within the tenures of their governments.
In September 2011, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee embarrassed the then prime minister Manmohan Singh by pulling out of his delegation to Bangladesh over the water-sharing agreement, forcing India to drop it from the agenda. She is yet to agree to share the water of the common river with Bangladesh.
http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2017/05/03/hasina-will-present-details-of-defence-deals-with-india-in-parliament-after-getting-notice
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