Bangladesh has sought favourable consideration of India for a second LOC (line of credit) in the third meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission (JCC), sources said.
The meeting was held on September 20 in New Delhi. Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali led the Bangladesh delegation, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj headed the Indian side.
The ministers reviewed the status of implementing projects under the US$ 800 million concessional LOC, extended by India to Bangladesh, said a joint statement of the JCC meeting.
Existing projects amounting to $ 751.95 million are under process and at various stages of implementation, it said.
Dhaka appreciated the contribution of the LoC to infrastructure development in Bangladesh.
"We have proposed India for second LoC in the meeting. Volume of the LoC and its integration with the existing one is yet to be decided," said a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
He said the issue needs further discussion with the divisions concerned, including the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
India extended a US$ 1.0 billion credit line to Bangladesh for developing infrastructure projects, mostly in the communications sector. The loan agreement between the EXIM Bank of India and the ERD under the Ministry of Finance was signed in August 2010.
Later, India converted $ 200 million out of the $ 1 billion LoC as grant assistance in June 2012, enabling Bangladesh to utilise it for any priority project. There are some 15 projects under the Indian LoC.
Talking to the FE, the MoFA official focused on some significant points discussed in the JCC meeting, including proposal for luring investment from India, removing tariff and non-tariff barriers, integrating check-posts at border, and improving physical infrastructure in major land-ports.
In the meeting, Dhaka pressed Delhi afresh for settlement of all the pending issues between the countries.
According to the joint statement of the JCC meeting, both the ministers underscored the need for expeditious construction of the inland river-port at Ashuganj, and noted progress of the detailed project report (DPR) for the port.
Both the sides pledged to undertake three projects for development of civic infrastructure in Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet in the current fiscal year under a memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed in February 2013, on small development projects (SDPs).
The countries agreed to promote a balanced bilateral trade, and address the para-tariff and non-tariff barriers. Dhaka handed over a list of barriers to trade, faced by the Bangladeshi exporters, to India. Delhi agreed to examine the list.
They also agreed to increase Indian investment in Bangladesh and appreciated the latter's decision on allocation of land for setting up a special economic zone (SEZ) for India and extending cooperation to invest in it.
Both sides agreed to initiate talks for renewal of the bilateral trade agreement, due to expire on March 31, 2015.
In the meeting, both the ministers welcomed the proposed trial-run of Dhaka-Shillong bus service by 2014. They also urged the authorities concerned of both the countries to devise a system to simplify customs and immigration procedures of the passengers travelling by Moitree Express.
They also emphasised developing waterways between the countries, considering cost-effectiveness and environment-friendly transportation aspects.
Both the sides reiterated their commitment towards finalization of the interim agreements on sharing the waters of the Teesta and Feni rivers, the statement said.
The Indian side also restated its earlier commitment that it would not take any unilateral decision on Himalayan component of the proposed river interlinking project, which may adversely affect Bangladesh.
In the meeting, the delegations stressed on the importance of sub-regional cooperation in water resources management, power, hydro-power and telecommunication connectivity.
They expressed satisfaction over the settlement of the maritime boundary issue between the countries. The ministers noted that the ratification process following signing of the protocol to the Land Boundary Agreement, 1974 was underway that would help resolve the pending boundary-related issues.
To facilitate people-to-people contact, both the ministers agreed to increase diplomatic representations in each others countries. They stressed the need for effective implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) to check cross-border criminal activities, tragic loss of lives, illegal movement and incidence of violence etc.
The Indian government assured the Bangladesh side of operationalising immigration facilities at Phulbari-Banglabandha port shortly.
Both the sides agreed on early completion of fencing the remaining vulnerable patches along the border. They also agreed to hold a conference, comprising relevant officers of the bordering districts of the countries, in early 2015 in India.
The meeting also focused on bilateral coastal shipping agreement, speeding up agreements between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI), and developing infrastructure at the land customs stations and the land-ports in both sides.
The bilateral meeting of JCC takes place once a year, and discusses ways to widen bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, security, connectivity, border management, water, power, shipping, renewable energy, development cooperation, art and culture, people to people exchange, human resource development etc.
This is the first ministerial visit from Bangladesh since assumption of charges of the new government in India in May 2014.
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