Dhaka minister accuses Economist of smear campaign

The foreign minister of Bangladesh has accused The Economist of running a smear campaign against the country after the magazine said India had funded the ruling party's 2008 election victory. The latest issue of the magazine ran a story titled "India and Bangladesh: Embraceable You" that said ties had improved since "bags of Indian cash and advice" helped the current Awami League government to power. "The report is disgraceful," Dipu Moni told local website bdnews24. The Economist has previously made "baseless" criticism of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, set up last year to try people suspected of atrocities during the independence campaign from Pakistan, Moni said. "It seems to me there is a smear campaign going on against Bangladesh," she said, adding that the magazine was trying "to undermine a democratically elected government of a country."