A
parliamentary watchdog has suggested that Bangladesh take the India route to
link to the Asian Highway network instead of the route that runs through
Myanmar.
However, the parliamentary standing committee on communications ministry
stopped short of making final recommendations on the Indian route for the
hook-up to the 141,000 kilometres of standardised roadways crisscrossing 32
Asian countries with linkages to Europe.
Nazrul Islam Manju, the lone member of the main opposition BNP, did not oppose
the suggestions of the standing committee dominated by ruling Awami League MPs.
The BNP says the Asian Highway must enter Bangladesh from India and then
connect China via Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries.
The party says the government was planning to give India transit facilities—a
politically sensitive issue in Bangladesh—to help the neighbour to reach its
economically backward northeastern states.