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NEW DELHI, April 7 (AFP) - Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia wants cordial ties with India and will investigate specific attacks on her country's Hindu minority, she said in an interview with an Indian newspaper published Sunday.

Bangladesh's opposition has alleged that Hindus have been systematically attacked and driven from their homes since Zia swept to power in October elections, charges the prime minister denied and said were politically motivated.

But Zia told The Hindu newspaper that her government would investigate specific incidents brought to light by Amnesty International.

The attacks on Hindus, and reports that a large number of the minority community had fled into India, have cast a pall over the normally friendly ties between the South Asian countries.

Hindus, 11 percent of Bangladesh's population, are considered a vote bank for the main opposition Awami League, although Zia told the newspaper she would not have come to power without significant Hindu support.

Zia said she would work to improve ties with India.

"We need some time to organise the affairs at home, but relations with India will remain a priority," she told The Hindu.

Zia's ruling coalition includes Islamist parties that have been critical of India, with one MP charging last year that New Delhi had a "big brotherly attitude" towards its smaller neighbour.

Zia also said she would not allow separatist extremists fighting in northeastern India to operate from Bangladesh. Indian officials have alleged that some outfits keep bases on the Bangladeshi side of the porous 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile) border.

In turn, the prime minister charged that "terrorists" from the Awami League had taken refuge in India, which the opposition party denies. 

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