Dhaka: Awami League general secretary Obaidul Qauder on Thursday urged all political parties of Bangladesh to shun the anti-India sentiment.

"Different agreements on military, civil, commercial and diplomatic affairs with different countries may be irked by upholding the national interest and sovereignty . . . but we should remain away from India fear and also refrain from spreading propaganda that the country has turned into India," he told the 14th national council of Diploma Engineers of Roads and Highways at Tejgaon in capital Dhaka. 

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would visit India in April next keeping the country's head high and she would make deals, in any, protecting the interests of the country, and upholding sovereignty in the interest of the people during her visit. 

About signing the agreements, the minister said, "It's not a one-sided issue, it needs a consensus from both sides in this regard."

He said if Awami League had signed slavery treaty soon after the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman it would have remained in power. 

The AL general secretary categorically said, "Nothing remains secret in this era of free flow of information."

Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division MN Siddqiue, engineer Ibne Alam Hasan, president of Institution of Diploma Engineers AKM A Hamid and Syed Muntasir Hafiz, among others, spoke on the occasion with Abdul Mannan in the chair.