India pleased with Bangladesh’s graduation from LDC status
Says the country’s external affairs ministry
India today expressed happiness about Bangladesh's graduation from the status of Least Developed Countries (LDC) and promised to continue support to the country's development efforts.
"We are happy to note Bangladesh's graduation from LDC status and we will continue to help Bangladesh's development efforts," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at the weekly media briefing.
He was asked if post-LDC, India would continue to extend duty-free and quota-free facilities to Bangladesh that has been in effect under South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) since 2011, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Srivastava said the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh have directed their officials to expeditiously complete a joint study on the prospects of concluding a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The CEPA had come up during the virtual summit between Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi on December 17 last year.
Referring to Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's meeting with Hasina in Dhaka yesterday, Srivastava said the Bangladesh PM appreciated the duty-free and quota-free access given to Bangladeshi exports to India under SAFTA since 2011.
Read More: Bangladesh qualifies for LDC graduation: The beginning of the end