DHAKA: Political relations between Bangladesh and India remained far below potential due to the lack of a dialogue between the neighbours, Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka Veena Sikri said.

"The two countries need more discussion and dialogue. Government-level interaction has to be supplemented and complemented more and more by the civil societies and private-sector dialogues," she said. India's relations with other neighbours, having gone through a rough patch, were now better than ever before.

In her address to foreign investors here, Ms. Sikri said there was a broad consensus among political parties, the business community and the public in India for a deeper, mutually beneficial, cooperative relationship with Bangladesh and other neighbours. "What we need now is sustained dialogue and continuous engagement to evolve mutually beneficial, win-win solutions on all issues," she said at the monthly luncheon meeting of the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Sunday. "Trade has to take place through much more interaction."

She highlighted the problems hindering bilateral trade and economic cooperation and reiterated Indian offers to Bangladesh for deriving mutual benefits. The offers included a free trade agreement, transit and transhipment, inland water trade and transit protocol and cross-border transportation of container goods. "We are increasingly realising that regional cooperation, economic cooperation and economic integration, is of crucial importance if we are to meet the challenges posed by globalisation and derive the full benefits from it."

Limitations

The lack of containerisation, either for road, rail or river transport, was one of the limitations in bilateral economic and commercial exchanges. Bangladesh, she said, needed to look at the issue of transit and transhipment facilities not simply as a bilateral issue with India, but as a step towards building a bridge with South East Asia. "A small beginning can perhaps be made by enabling the North-Eastern States of India to have access to Chittagong Port."

Countries such as the United States, Japan, Russia, China and the European Union saw India as an indispensable economic partner. "We ask Bangladesh too to recognise the opportunity for their own prosperity that better relations with India offers," she said. "I feel sure that enterprises and foreign investors in Bangladesh would similarly benefit once the Bangladesh-India FTA is finalised."

Seventy per cent of Bangladesh's huge imports from India — worth over $2 billion — consisted of raw materials for industrial inputs or other essentials such as rice, wheat and sugar. "Thus, most of the imports from India either add to Bangladesh's export and manufacturing competitiveness or fulfil essential demands of the Bangladeshi people," she said.

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