DHAKA: Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka Veena Sikri has called for depoliticising the long-standing issues between India and Bangladesh and looking at them with utmost seriousness. "The issues should be looked at in a serious way. If the politicians want to solve the problems, they should look for a solution through dialogue. And constant engagement in dialogue is the only way for a good solution," she said in an interview to BDNEWS, a news agency of Dhaka, ahead of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's visit to India, which begins on March 20.

Ms. Sikri said the Bangladesh Prime Minister and her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh would discuss all aspects of the bilateral relations.

She hinted that both sides were looking forward to signing a number of trade agreements. There would also be a long-term extension of the agreement on water transit.

As for the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) proposed by India, she said Bangladesh had unbalanced trade with many other countries, but that did not become a political issue. India put forward the proposal in good faith. "I think open discussion is the only way to solve the problem."

The envoy said she acknowledged the concerns raised by Bangladesh over the FTA. "If you have any other proposal, we are ready to discuss. Now the Bangladesh Prime Minister will meet our Prime Minister and we will discuss it and we hope, a substantial outcome will be there."

On Bangladesh's concerns over trade deficit and removal of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, she said the problem arose when "you do not look for a long-term solution."

Replying to a question on sharing of common river waters, the High Commissioner said that after the signing of Ganges water sharing treaty, India looked forward to resolving similar issues with the same spirit. Bangladesh was a water surplus country, but faced the problems of water management and siltation, areas where India could help.

On Dhaka's concern over criminals taking shelter in India, she said the issue was of high importance to New Delhi. "The security issue will come up during the discussion between the two leaders." Things could not move without an extradition treaty, she said.

Answering a question on commencing the Dhaka-Guwahati, Dhaka-Shillong, Dhaka-Shiliguri and Dhaka-Kathmandu bus services, Ms. Sikri said the Indian Prime Minister dealt with the issue in his speech at the SAARC Summit.

"Bangladesh can be a hub between South Asia and the South East Asia. There was connectivity before 1965 ... we would like to have it and we want an all-way link."

Asked about the tri-nation gas pipeline, she said it had not been discussed for sometime. It was a commercial project to be implemented by an international consortium.

There was no scope for discussing the conditions imposed by Bangladesh within this framework.

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