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India not keen on promoting trade: Bangladesh Minister

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA July 4. Bangladesh's Commerce Minister, Amir Khasru Mahmood Chowdhury, has said that though Dhaka is eager to promote trade with its neighbouring countries, the same level of response has not been received from its biggest neighbour, India.

Commenting on duty-free access granted by India to 40 Bangladeshi products, he told a news conference here that most of these products were not produced in the country. When reminded that the list of products had been provided to India by Bangladesh itself, he said it was provided by the previous Awami League Government. "Yes, the Awami League Government made a mistake, but if India had good intentions, it could have provided us duty-free access to some other products produced domestically by revising the list as it also knew very well that most of those 40 items were not our domestic products.''

Mr. Chowdhury said securing duty-free access to 166 items would be the priority for Bangladesh at the ensuing secretary-level meeting with India. Dhaka saw no link between transit or transhipment issues and trade negotiations. It had taken initiatives to explore the 25,000-crore rupee market of the northeastern States in India, including the holding of trade fairs.

The Indian High Commissioner, Manilal Tripathi, meanwhile said that the time available for a decision over gas export to India from Bangladesh is not unlimited.

"The issue, which has been under debate for quite some time, can be addressed in a pragmatic manner for the mutual benefit of both our countries,'' he told a Rotary International meeting here this week while speaking on `Regional Cooperation for International Understanding'. Because "we are also looking at other potential sources.''

The High Commissioner said Dhaka could also take advantage of its geographical location to generate welcome revenues by offering transit facilities to India.

``Of course, a decision in this regard is Bangladesh's sovereign prerogative. Once a decision is taken, details regarding freight rates and other related matters could always be worked out through mutual consultations.''

The Khaleda Zia Government is yet to take a decision on gas export as the two national committees on assessment of deposit and utilisation are yet to submit their recommendations. The reports are likely to be placed before the Prime Minister soon, but with divided opinion.

The Rotary function was also addressed by Bangladesh's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Reaz Rahman, who did not refer to the gas export issue. He said SAARC, mooted by Bangladesh, was the best example of effective regional cooperation.

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