Delhi moving ahead with Dhaka on trade front: Shringla

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla yesterday said Bangladesh and India are moving ahead to have stronger trade relations addressing barriers, if there is any.

“We're moving forward, we're not moving backward,” he told diplomatic correspondents at the National Press Club. The high commissioner said everybody talks about non-tariff barriers but nobody can say what those non-tariff barriers exactly are.

Shringla, however, said India does not import goods and foodstuff from any country without being tested. 

He said they are also cooperating to accept standards of testing certification of BSTI to facilitate easier access for Bangladesh goods.

The high commissioner said time will come when all Bangladeshi products will reach the standards that India wants. 

Mentioning that India granted full market access to Bangladesh, Shringla said today nobody talks about it the way it was debated in 2011.

He said some 13 agreements were signed with Indian public and private sector companies during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's New Delhi visit. These deals will bring in $10 billion in new investments to Bangladesh in power, energy, logistics, education and medical sectors, he said.

India has so far pledged $8 billion in concessional financing to Bangladesh. During the recent visit, $5 billion dollars was pledged in concessional financing in addition to the earlier $3 billion in the first and second lines of credit. “This is the largest amount of credit India has committed to any single country which demonstrates that we value our relationship with Bangladesh.”

Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) arranged the interaction with its President Rezaul Karim Lotus in the chair. DCAB General Secretary Pantho Rahman also spoke.