Dhaka, Sep.6 (ANI): Indian officials accompanying the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on his two-day official visit to Bangladesh, the first by an Indian head of government in twelve years, revealed that there is tremendous potential for enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said: "We do a little over four million US dollars in terms of official trade. There are tremendous complementarities. Ports, power, we can cooperate on a whole range of economic activities. We are trying to tap into power connectivity."
"A huge trade imbalance exists. Railways (of the two nations) have agreed to cooperate to enhance railway connectivity. Inland water connectivity is also another option where we can cooperate with each other bilaterally," the officials added.
They further said: "Transit has become a zero sum game in ours and their mind. Once transportation links open, the benefits of commerce come to both. Once you say, I have a right to transit, then, he thinks, oh maybe I'm giving something away. Losing something. It is a sensitive issue. If you don't have links, transport etc, we have to put things in place."
The sources further revealed that the first big step would be to have a mutually agreed boundary between the two nations. India and Bangladesh share an over 4000-kilometer-long (2,249-mile-long) border.
The Bangladeshi Divisions of Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Chittagong run along the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Secondly, the sources admitted that there were many problems related to undemarcated areas, and therefore, there was need to ensure that border management plans are put into place.
They also said that both governments have to address the issue of illegal migration more seriously.
"We have to find a way. It will take time to settle such issues," they said.n 1971, Mitro Vahini was the alliance of the Indian Army and the underground rebel force of Mukti Bahini that defeated the Pakistani Army in a 13-day battle.
In the 21st century, the war to be won however is of economic deprivation and backwardness.
After an incredibly long period of 12 years, an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Dhaka in the hope and expectation of heralding a new era in friendship, cooperation and mutually beneficial ties.
The visit marks a paradigm shift in the way India is expecting to conduct business with its eastern neighbor.
The larger game plan is to see this visit as the first milestone in a dynamic business relationship both for bilateral benefit as well as in the regional and sub-regional context.
India had agreed to extend the largest ever Line of Credit of one billion US dollars to Bangladesh during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi earlier this year.
Of the 20 projects that were considered, 13 have been finalized amounting to 750 million US dollars.
Bangladesh is seeking more access to Indian markets especially for its textiles, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the share. There has been an increase in tariff related quota from eight million pieces of garments to ten million pieces this year.
Indian exports to Bangladesh are 4,580 million US dollars as compared to imports at about 500 million US dollars in 2010-11.
Bangladesh would like to see more of the 'Made in Bangladesh' labels in India. They are all over Europe and the US anyway.
India's merchandise trade surplus with Bangladesh has increased from about 2.7 billion US dollars in 2007-8 to over 3.1 billion US dollars in 2010-11.
There is scope for this increasing to much higher levels once better road and rail links are opened between the northeast Indian states and Bangladesh.
The idea of 'border haats' or market places on the border was a win-win one. It has only recently started working and is helping connect populations on either side of he border to trade legally. By Smita Prakash(ANI)
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