Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has lost the minimum capacity for normal negotiations with India and that the 10 MoUs signed with the neighbouring country are just a new version of slavery.

He said: "What has been done in the name of connectivity within Bangladesh by providing corridors for rail communication from one part of India to another will seriously threaten our sovereignty and national security."

He claimed that through these compromise agreements, Sheikh Hasina wants to allow India to use Bangladesh as a strategic "buffer state" in regional geopolitics.

As a result, Bangladesh will inevitably become entangled in the complexities of regional geopolitical rivalry, the BNP leader claimed. Almost all seven newly signed MoUs focus on the northern region of Bangladesh.

The BNP leader made these remarks at a press conference at the BNP chairperson's political office in Gulshan.

The BNP called this press conference to address Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India and the agreements made during this visit.

Fakhrul believes these agreements are part of a far-reaching grand plan to bypass the strategically important “chicken neck” for the transportation of military and civilian goods to India in times of need.

Commenting that the interests of Bangladesh have not been given any importance, he said the main part of the bilateral trade between the two countries includes the provision of transit and corridor facilities to India, one after the other, in the name of connectivity. Despite the strategic and political risks of the transit-corridor regime, everything has been done unilaterally.

“By undermining Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty, Sheikh Hasina has indulged in the heinous conspiracy of enslaving Bangladesh through a long-term agreement with India. The people will not accept such an agreement against national interest,” he added.

Fakhrul said: "One-sided aggressive trade has made Bangladesh a free trade hub for India. Bangladesh's share is only two billion in the total annual trade of 26 billion between the two countries. Millions of Indian youth are working in Bangladesh, where unemployment is high. Bangladesh ranks fourth on the list of India's main sources of remittances."

He also said: "The agreement to provide a rail corridor through Bangladesh, acceptance of India's cooperation in the Teesta project, defence and military cooperation, a medicine agreement, free movement of India in Bangladesh waters, a joint satellite agreement between India's In Space and Bangladesh's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Digital Partnership, Green Partnership, maritime cooperation, and the 10 MoUs that were signed under various names, such as Sunil Economy, have yielded nothing for Bangladesh. It is clear to the people that these agreements were signed out of Sheikh Hasina's responsibility to express gratitude to India rather than protecting the interests of Bangladesh."

He claimed that Sheikh Hasina has completely disregarded the Teesta Water Sharing Agreement. 

“The Teesta accord was not on their agenda. Meanwhile, many people believe that water is closely related to people's livelihood and climate, and that water can lead to war between different countries in the future,” Fakhrul said.

BNP Standing Committee members Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Selima Rahman, BNP Chairperson's Advisory Council Ismail Zabiullah, Zahir Uddin Swapan, and others were also present at the press conference.