Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has told the Jatiya Sangsad that Bangladesh had already lodged a strong protest against India's move for inviting tenders to explore oil and gas in the undemarcated areas in the Bay of Bengal.Replying to a question from treasury bench member, Begum Zia, Wednesday, stressed that the two countries should immediately resolve some issues, which were not yet settled. However, she said, cooperation in the fields of trade and commerce, education, culture and other sectors have increased between the two countries, Bangladesh Observer reported from Dhaka. "Dhaka feels that these issues should be resolved through discussion," Begum Zia said, adding that the Bangladesh government had held discussion with India, especially on the process to demarcate the land border, creating peaceful atmosphere along the border areas, stop killing of innocent Bangladesh nationals in the border and stopping the push-in of Bengali speaking Indians to Bangladesh.
Besides, she said, different activities are on to reduce the existing huge trade imbalance between the two countries.
The Indian government was informed of Bangladesh's grave concern about the proposed river-linking through diplomatic note and the matter was raised at the India-Bangladesh joint river commission meeting, she added. In this connection, the Prime Minister referred to her visit to India and said that she had very fruitful discussions on bilateral matters with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in an atmosphere of cordiality and friendship. "I have informed matters related to Bangladesh interests to Indian Premier and sought his sincere cooperation," she said.
Begum Zia also said that a favorable atmosphere was created after her visit to India for holding discussions on various bilateral issues between the two countries. She expressed her belief that the two countries would utilize this favorable atmosphere for further strengthening the friendly relations between them.