On the second day of his visit to Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met former Bangladesh Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition, Khaleda Zia. She has sought his intervention to restore democracy in the country and conveyed to Modi that there is no democracy in the country, emphasising that the voices of the people need to be heard to ensure 'actual development.' “It was a very good meeting,” the leader said after a 30 minute long meeting at Hotel Sonargaon.
"We apprised him about lack of democracy in Bangladesh. We told Modi that actual development cannot take place without democracy. We conveyed that he has been focusing on strengthening Saarc but at the same time efforts must be made to bring back democracy in Bangladesh," Zia's spokesperson Moin Khan told reporters.
Leaders of other political parties, including the left, also called on Modi where they raised key issues such as, cross-border terrorism, religious fundamentalism, extremism and the issue regarding sharing of water. They stroked that both the countries need to work together to address these challenges.
Hasanul Haq Inu, President of Jatiyo Samajtrantik Dal, said both the countries face the same challenges and asserted they be met unitedly. "He is a doer, he is pragmatic and he has dynamism and energy to bring prosperity to this region. It is because of him the law providing for implementation of LBA was approved in Indian parliament," Sharif Nurul Ambia, general secretary of Jatityo Samajtrantik Dal, said.
