DHAKA, 26 July — Bangladesh will ask President Pervez Musharraf for $4.5 billion in compensation for assets left behind when Pakistan lost its eastern wing three decades ago, an official said yesterday.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia would raise the issue when Musharraf visits Bangladesh next week, Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told reporters. The claim was for assets belonging to Bangladeshis who remained in Pakistan when Bangladesh, formerly east Pakistan, became independent in 1971.
The issue has been a stumbling block in relations between the South Asian countries since then, with Bangladesh regularly demanding compensation for the lost assets. Musharraf arrives Monday for a three-day official visit.
The foreign secretary said the two leaders would also discuss the status of 250,000 “Biharis” languishing in 70 displacement camps in Bangladesh who refused to accept the country’s citizenship after 1971 and claim to be Pakistanis.
The stateless people, who speak Pakistan’s national language Urdu, migrated to Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) from India in 1947 when the British ended its colonial rule of the subcontinent.
Shamsher said all bilateral, regional and international issues of common interest would be discussed between Bangladesh and Pakistan during President Musharraf’s visit. He said that economic relations between the two countries would, however, get priority during the talks.
Sources said Bangladesh would request duty-free access of some of its goods to Pakistan in order to reduce the prevailing trade gap between the two countries.
The foreign secretary said that the visit of the Pakistani President is in the spirit of the SAARC that advocates closer relationship among the neighbors in all fields.
The foreign secretary expressed the hope that the visit of President Musharraf would further strengthen the existing bonds of friendship between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s main opposition party said yesterday it had called off plans to meet with Musharraf when he visits next week. The Awami League said in a statement the decision was taken at a party meeting Wednesday chaired by its acting president former Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad, who had earlier indicated that the party would call on Musharraf.
