India considers offering new line of credit to Bangladesh

New Delhi is willing to offer a new line of credit to Dhaka based on previous experiences, Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran has said.

“But amount and terms of conditions have not been finalised yet,” he said, replying to a question while meeting diplomatic correspondents in Dhaka on Thursday.
 
He said the external affairs ministry’s secretary for economic development Sujata Mehta during her just concluded visit also indicated that India was willing to participate in further projects based on credit line.
 
He said the implementation of the first $1 billion credit line, that involved 15 projects, of which 200 million was converted to grants, was in the “advanced” stage.

The envoy discussed a whole range of India-Bangladesh issues and said both countries must “grow and prosper together”.
 
He once again said that Indian giants were willing to invest in Bangladesh that can reduce the two-way trade gap and help Bangladesh’s economy to grow as they would export their products from here.
 
He said both countries were historically linked and “we should learn from each other”.
 
“We should allow each other to benefit from our respective strengths. India has a large and growing market. Bangladesh should have access to it,” Saran said.

“Similarly, Bangladeshi companies should have the freedom and opportunity to source raw materials, intermediate goods or even machinery and equipment from India if it is cost effective and makes the Bangladeshi economy more competitive”.
 
“We should enhance people-to-people exchanges and better connectivity between us. Many important initiatives are underway to make business and travel between us easier and smoother”.
 
Replying to a question, he said, India was helping Bangladesh in evacuation of its nationals from the strife-torn Yemen on Dhaka’s request.