NEW DELHI, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Newly elected Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised there will be zero tolerance for terrorist activities in the country.
Hasina, who was elected prime minister after parliamentary elections at the end of December, is calling for improved relationships with Bangladesh's neighbors and a crackdown on any terrorist activities in the country, the New Delhi-based Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis reported.
Critics in India have suggested Bangladesh has served as a base of operations for terrorists launching attacks on the subcontinent. In the wake of the Mumbai terrorist violence, Pranab Mukherjee, Indian external affairs minister, called on Hasina's new government to seriously support efforts to counter terrorism in the region.
Hasina, in her first news conference since the election, promised that "Bangladeshi soil will never be used to carry out any terrorist act against our neighbors."
