Saifur to head for Delhi with high economic agendas
Saarc, FTA, Tata issues to top India visit
Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
In yet another high-level political contact between India and Bangladesh, Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman arrives here tomorrow for a five-day visit during which he will interact with Indian leadership on the sideline of an economic summit.Rahman, the chief architect of Bangladesh's economic reforms, is coming to Delhi primarily to attend the three-day India Economic summit organised jointly by World Economic Forum and Confeder-ation of Indian Industry, beginning on December 6, where he will speak on the subject 'Creating a Dynamic South Asian Region'. Rahman will meet his Indian counterpart Palaniappan Chidambaram, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. He is likely to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also. A luncheon meeting between Rahman and Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, who will be a key figure in the economic summit, is also scheduled. The meeting between the two assumes significance in view of the Tata Group's proposed massive investment in steel, power and fertilizer sectors in Bangladesh. Official sources here said the economic ties between India and Bangladesh are likely to come up in a big way in Rahman's talks with Indian leaders, particularly ahead of the coming Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit in Dhaka and recent signs of an upswing in bilateral trade cooperation. Bangladesh's Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, who was here last month, had dropped broad hints that a free trade agreement between India and Bangladesh was inevitable and Kamal Nath had assured that New Delhi would seek for removing tariff and non-tariff barriers within three months in the way of enhanced imports from Bangladesh. Chowdhury's remarks were welcomed in official and trade circles in India which has been pushing for a free trade accord with Bangladesh that New Delhi will go a long way in addressing Dhaka's persistent concern about an adverse balance of trade by brightening prospects of Indian investment in Bangladesh. India is also encouraged by Bangladesh government's change of stand in favour of bilateral FTA as against the earlier view that Dhaka could consider granting duty concessions only under the regional and sub-regional accords like SAFTA and BIMSTEC.
| 
