Dhaka, July 8 - Bangladesh will offer Chittagong and Mongla ports for use to its South Asian neighbours, developing them as regional trade hubs, a minister has said.

'There is no reason why cotton from Pakistan could not be directly brought or trucks laden with goods from Nepal could not directly be imported to Bangladesh or why north east Indian states will remain landlocked when we have the Chittagong port,' Commerce Minister, Col. (retd.) Faruk Khan said Tuesday.

He reiterated the government's stand and the ruling Awami League's poll promise made last December in the face of 'naive and negative mindset' being displayed by the opposition parties.

Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami have opposed any move that allows India's north-eastern region easy success to the sea.