Businesses and experts in the states of the northeast India have called upon the central government in New Delhi to strengthen its bilateral economic ties with neighbouring Bangladesh, officials said in Dhaka on Friday.
A US diplomat, based in Kolkata, capital of the Indian state of Pachimbanga, also made a similar call, ahead of the scheduled visit of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee of India to Bangladesh on May 5.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, is also scheduled to arrive in Dhaka at midnight on May 4-5, foreign ministry officials said.
According to relevant sources, the calls to New Delhi for consolidating economic ties between the two countries, just ahead of the visit of Hilary Clinton and Pranab Mukherjee, carry weight, as the US wants good economic ties between India and Bangladesh, in the wake of changing political scenario in the region.
A two-day seminar that concluded in Agartala, the capital of the Indian state of Tripura on Thursday, suggested that India should strengthen its economic ties with Bangladesh, the foreign ministry officials said.
To strengthen the friendly ties, the two countries should sign a treaty to share the Teesta river water and conduct a joint study on possible adverse effect of the proposed Tipaimukh hydel project in the Indian state of Manipur as early as possible, the seminar was told.
Meanwhile, traders in the seven states of the northeast India see an enormous business prospect in a win-win bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Dhaka. The traders of the northeastern region of India are becoming dependent gradually on Bangladesh, because of its geographical location.
They think good bilateral relations that may create the scope for transit through Bangladesh, will give them a great economic boost, as it will lower the distance between the northeast states to other parts of India and it may also open access to the nearby Bangladesh ports for external trade.
The distance between the seven northeast states of India and Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of Paschimbanga can be shortened greatly if it is linked via Bangladesh.
Agartala, the capital of the Indian state of Tripura is only 350 km from Kolkata via Bangladesh, while the distant between the two state capitals is some 1,650 km through the rugged hilly terrain via Shillong in the Himalayan part of Paschimbanga and Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.
On the other hand, Chittagong port is only 150 km away from Agartala, traders said.
Among others, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) acting director general Sarvajit Chakravarti, Kolkata's Jadavpur University professor Om Prakash Mishra, Tripura (Central) University Vice-Chancellor Arunoday Saha and Bangladesh High Commissioner Tariq Ahmad Karim attended the international seminar.
The two-day seminar on "Northeast India in Transition: Tripura -- the Commerce and Connectivity Corridor between India and Bangladesh" was organised by Kolkata-based Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies.
The discussants there asserted that there should be a concrete political decision to strengthen the ties that have shown signs of consolidation following the high-level visits between the two sides in the last three years.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi in early 2010 and her Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh was in Dhaka late last year.
Earlier, a US diplomat suggested for better trade and economic relations between India and Bangladesh through the former's northeastern states which has "huge scope for progress in future".
"India-Bangladesh trade and economic activities centering the Indian northeastern region have a huge scope for progress in future," said Kolkata-based US Consulate General's American Center director Jeffrey K. Reneau.
Interacting with students and teachers of the Tripura (Central) University on Tuesday, he said: "Indian government should further increase its trade and economic relations with Bangladesh using its northeastern region and 'look-East Policy'."
NE Indian businesses for boosting economic ties with BD