'Trade should not be used as a political weapon. Doing business with India or Pakistan is not tantamount to sacrificing sovereignty,' Khan told a seminar on regional cooperation.

'Today, people have rejected the politics of corruption and terrorism. Politicians will have to follow them and work for increasing regional trade for mutual benefit of all the nations of South Asia,' the minister told economists and analysts attending the meet.

'We were regionally connected among ourselves even during and before the Mughal period,' New Age newspaper quoted Khan as saying Wednesday.

The Sheikh Hasina government that came to power in the poll is also bracing to reverse Zia's policies on Bangladesh's connectivity with Asian Highway and Asian railway networks.