International

India, Bangladesh trade talks conclude

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA APRIL 10 . The much-awaited trade talks between India and Bangladesh have concluded with New Delhi agreeing to give duty-free access to 16 categories of Bangladeshi products and Dhaka agreeing to discuss border trade and transhipment issues at the coming Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting. The trade talks, postponed twice earlier, broke down on Tuesday. However, the meeting was extended until this morning.

After a new round of unscheduled meetings this morning, the two sides issued a joint press statement saying the talks were held in a "warm and cordial atmosphere reflecting the close bilateral ties'' and that the "full gamut of bilateral issues'' were discussed. The Bangladesh Commerce Secretary, Suhel Ahmed, told presspersons, "We have progressed to some extent'' adding that "the main focus was the huge trade gap''.

Asked to comment on the "serious differences of opinion", the Commerce Secretary, Dipak Chatterjee, said "such things are not uncommon''.

Bangladesh referred to the ``huge trade imbalance'' between the two countries and highlighted the need for greater market access of its products in India. It insisted on giving duty-free access to 25 categories of products, announced by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, representing 191 tariff lines at the six-digit HS level.

The Indian side responded positively and agreed to provide duty-free access to 40 tariff lines at the six-digit HS level corresponding to 16 categories of Bangladesh products immediately.

These 40 tariff lines include products in which Bangladesh has export capability. The products include prepared food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, leather products, electric goods, artificial flowers, voltage stabilizers and furniture.

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