Foreign nation wants airbase in Bangladesh, to carve out Christian state: Hasina

India shares its borders with Bangladesh and the neighbouring country is of strategic importance to it.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has made serious allegations about a plot to establish a Christian state like East Timor using parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar, and an offer by a white-skinned man to help her return to power if she allowed a foreign nation to build an airbase there.

India shares its borders with Bangladesh and the neighbouring country is of strategic importance to it.

Speaking at a meeting with her 14-party alliance at the Gono Bhaban (Prime Minister's residence) in Dhaka, Hasina also revealed that she and her party, the Awami League, were offered a smooth re-election to the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament) polls, by a white skinned foreigner if she allowed a foreign country to build an airbase in Bangladesh, reported the Dhaka-based newspaper The Daily Star.

"Like East Timor ... they will carve out a Christian country taking parts of Bangladesh [Chattogram] and Myanmar with a base in the Bay of Bengal," Hasina said on Thursday.

Although she did not specify which country made the offer, she mentioned it came from "a white man" and implied it was part of a broader strategy affecting other regional forces as well.

"It may appear that it is aimed at only one country, but it is not. I know where else they intend to go," added Hasina, who won a landslide victory with 224 seats in the 300-member house.