"Their (India's) mindset is to derive maximum benefit for them and corner others in the region through protecting their market by uniquely imposing NTBs (non-tariff barriers)," said a leading businessman from Sri Lanka, requesting anonymity.

He voiced his frustration about the region's business prospect to the news agency on the sideline of the two-day Saarc Business Leaders Conclave that concluded here Sunday.

"Yes, there are some loose ends," Foreign Trade Minister of Sri Lanka Professor GL Peiris said, pointing out that the major problems of the India-Sri Lanka FTA is the non-tariff barriers.

He, however, mentioned that the FTA, of course, benefited Sri Lanka as its exports increased by around 300 percent since the signing of the bilateral FTA.

"We've implemented FTA more successfully with Pakistan than India," said another businessman from Sri Lanka Samantha Kumarasinghe, who have a business establishment in Bangladesh.

The chairman and managing director of Multichemi Bangladesh (Pvt) Limited narrated his business experiences both in Bangladesh without having FTA and in India having FTA.

"We've got much better opportunity in Bangladesh than India," he said, adding that Bangladesh is an excellent place for doing business.

"Their (India's) attitude is not favourable for others till today. If the situation is changed, it's OK," Kumarasinghe said.

He added that India should remove the NTBs soon to show a genuine gesture for boosting regional trade as the Indian Minister of State for Commerce Jai Ram Ramesh told the conclave.

Ramesh had said India decided to remove non-tariff barriers (NTBs) it imposes to restrict products from other countries as part of their responsibility as the region's biggest economy to help boost regional trade among the Saarc countries.

Drawing attention to the growth of Sri Lanka's export to India, Kumarasinghe said Indian's running business in Sri Lanka control 60 percent of the exports from Sri Lanka.

Asked whether Bangladesh should continue with India to negotiate the proposed bilateral FTA, he said it is Bangladesh, which will examine their possible benefits.

"But, as a whole, it's difficult for any country of the region to get more benefit than India - be it FTA or Safta - unless India changed its mindset," he added.

Chairing a session of the conclave, immediate past president of Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Macky Hashim had stressed developing a mechanism by the policymakers in the region so that smaller nations get more benefit than the bigger ones.

FBCCI President Mir Nasir Hossain, when asked how he considers Indian minister Ramesh's assurance of removing the NTBs, said India has long been assuring at different forums that they would remove the trade barriers.

"So far, the assurances remained unimplemented," he said.