India and Bangladesh on Tuesday created a high-level mechanism to monitor New Delhi-funded development projects, even as Dhaka sought the removal of non-tariff barriers and greater trade facilitation to improve the export of its products.
Bangladesh’s long-standing demand for an early resolution of the Teesta River water exchange and agreements on the exchange of all common rivers were also featured in the virtual meeting of the Joint Advisory Commission (JCC) co-chaired by Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and his His counterpart from Bangladesh, AK Abdul Momen.
Momen also expressed the hope that India, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during 2021-22, will play a “more significant role in a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis, including its early repatriation to Myanmar in a safe place and sustainable way ”, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.
The two sides decided to form a “high-level monitoring committee” headed by the secretary of the Bangladesh Economic Relations Division and the Indian envoy in Dhaka to regularly review the implementation of projects under three credit lines (LoC) agreements. said a joint statement.
Momen raised non-tariff barriers and a lack of trade facilitation that he said were preventing the flow of goods from Bangladesh to India, particularly to the northeastern states. The Bangladeshi side called on India to address issues related to accreditation, certification, standardization, port restrictions and the development of port infrastructure to allow new exports.
Momen also asked Jaishankar to analyze India’s export of essential commodities such as onions as it affects the domestic market of Bangladesh. India’s recent ban on onion exports had a major impact on prices in Bangladesh, and later New Delhi allowed the movement of onion supplies already contracted by Bangladeshi importers.
Tuesday’s JCC meeting was part of the two sides’ efforts to draw ties, hit by a number of irritants since last year, in balance. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla visited Dhaka in August, when he delivered a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina.
The two ministers also agreed that further steps can be taken to improve trade and investment between India and Bangladesh, the two main economies in South Asia, such as removing all kinds of barriers. The Bangladeshi side appreciated India’s decision of duty-free access for Bangladeshi products to the Indian market under the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) pact, as Bangladesh’s exports crossed the 1,000 mark million dollars in 2018-19 through the trade balance. remains in favor of India.
However, the sharing of the waters of the Teesta River, hampered by objections from the West Bengal government, remains a problem that Dhaka wants New Delhi to quickly address. Jaishankar noted that the two sides share 54 rivers, saying: “We remain committed to exchanging Teesta water, and in the meantime, we are equally committed to advancing seven other rivers on which data has already been shared with [the Bangladeshi] side”.
The two sides agreed to consider convening the ministerial-level meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC), which has not met since 2010.
Jaishankar thanked Bangladesh for supporting India in its election to the UN Security Council, and the joint statement said the two ministers “reiterated the importance of the safe, speedy and sustainable return to Myanmar of forcibly displaced persons from the state. of Rakhine in Myanmar, currently being protected by Bangladesh ”.
Momen stressed that “unless the problem is resolved quickly, there are possibilities that pockets of radicalism will disrupt economic growth, peace and stability in the region and called for the influence of India to address the crisis,” the joint statement added.
Both sides also agreed to accelerate work on energy projects such as the Friendship Pipeline Project and the Super Thermal Power Project Maitree and Momen said that tripartite energy and energy cooperation with Nepal and Bhutan was also discussed.
The two sides also discussed defense cooperation, including training and exchanges, and called for the early implementation of a defense line of credit.
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