India has decided to export 5 lakh tonnes of rice and wheat to Bangladesh despite ban on outward shipments of the foodgrains. Both nations have also agreed to establish ‘Border Haats' along the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border and open the Chittagong and Mongla ports to boost trade ties.
The two countries have signed $1 billion Line of Credit agreement and some important pacts for power transmission, Union Commerce and Industry Ministry Anand Sharma told journalists after meeting his Bangladeshi counterpart Muhammad Faruk Khan here on Saturday.
“Apart from the Line of Credit, the bulk power transmission agreement and an MoU between NTPC and the Bangladesh Power Development Board have also been signed in the power sector,” he said, and pointed out that after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's successful visit to India, both countries had been actively engaged in implementing the joint communiqué that reflected the understanding reached between the prime ministers of the two countries.
Mr. Sharma said the two-way trade had the potential to touch $5 billion in the next two years from the current $3 billion. He also announced that arrangements for supply of 3-lakh tonnes of par-boiled rice and 2-lakh tonnes of wheat from India to Bangladesh were being put in place and that the supply would take place soon.
Out of the quota of duty free export of 80-lakh pieces of textiles from Bangladesh to India, around 17-lakh pieces could be exported for the last quarter ending December 2010. A fresh quota of 80-lakh pieces of textiles would be available from January 2011, he added.
The Minister further said both sides had recently visited several land customs stations to review the state of infrastructure. India was now constructing seven integrated check posts and eight land custom stations under a $125-million scheme. The two sides were also in discussion to construct the bridge across Feni to begin trade between Sabroom and Ramgarh, he said.
