From Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma arrived here on Thursday night to attend the official lunch hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in honour of his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Sunday.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive on Friday.
Sangma has been invited to the banquet along with the chief ministers of all bordering states — West Bengal, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura. It is not yet clear if the chief ministers from the North East will take part in the private dinner to be hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee will be present.
Incidentally, unlike other heads of states and governments, the Bangladesh Prime Minister will stay at the Rastrapati Bhavan. The President was born in undivided Bengal and married in East Bengal, now Bangladesh.
Hasina’s visit to India after a seven-year hiatus just ahead of Poila Boishak, the Bengali New Year, couldn’t have been a more opportune time. Currently, the volume of bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh is about $6.6 billion; there are estimates that the trade potential is at least four times the present level.
Ahead of her visit, the Indian Cabinet has already approved a slew of MoUs to be signed with Bangladesh starting from connectivity to media, but unresolved Teesta river water sharing issue is still a sore thumb in the bilateral relationship.
Secondly, the two countries see themselves converging around a sense of indispensability, not just as neighbours battling the scourge of terrorism, but as leading economic partners whose collective strength can transform not just their own economies but also that of the region and the world. As the second fastest-growing economy in the world in 2016 with more than 7 per cent growth, Bangladesh has a firm footing in the global apparel markets and is now a role model for the developing world.
These triggers are matched by the contributions of industry bodies that have been nurturing economic relations and undertaking various initiatives with their counterparts in Bangladesh. Hasina will address various chambers of industries and commerce during the last leg of her visit. Connectivity offers a game-changing opportunity for India and Bangladesh and this is pivotal to India’s connectivity with its northeastern region and with ASEAN countries.
Equal emphasis on physical and institutional connectivity between India and Bangladesh will lead to more opportunities through trade and investment.
This is particularly important in the context of both Make in India initiative as well as India’s Act East Policy.
