B'desh govt slams Zia for cancelling meeting with Mukherjee
March 05, 2013  14:29
The Bangladesh government today reacted sharply to top opposition leader Khaleda Zia's refusal to meet visiting President Pranab Mukherjee, saying it "is a departure from democratic norms and courtesy".

Addressing a press conference, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said it was "very unfortunate" that Zia's meeting with Mukherjee was cancelled by her. "It should not have happened".

She said it is a part of democratic norm that whenever foreign dignitaries visit the country, they meet both the head of government and the leader of the opposition. "In that sense, it is a departure from democratic norms," Moni said, adding however that India-Bangladesh relations would not suffer because of the incident as "our relations are on a firm footing".

She said not all parties are democratic in the same manner and not all parties practice the same level of democracy. Moni was asked if Zia's calling off her meeting with the Indian President was a breach of protocol and violated courtesy.
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