The Hindu Business Line : PM allows duty-free access to Bangladesh, 3 others

Major announcements
Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives are the beneficiaries
Visa issuance for students, teachers, patients etc liberalised
Direct air links proposed between all SAARC capitals

New Delhi April 3 Bangladesh could be the biggest beneficiary of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's announcement of not only allowing duty-free access to South Asian least developed neighbours by the year-end but also further reducing the sensitive list for these countries.

Addressing the 14th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit here on Tuesday, Dr Singh said India was ready to accept asymmetrical responsibilities, and open its markets to the South Asian neighbours without insisting on reciprocity.

Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives are the other countries that could benefit from Dr Singh's announcement.

In July last year, the Government reduced tariff on 380 tariff lines for imports from South Asian LDCs including Bangladesh.

The items that saw a cut in customs duties include motorcars, motorcycles, golf carts, pharmaceutical products, fertilisers, paints, routers, modems, iron and steel, a host of textile items, certain edible vegetables, cut flowers, cocoa and cocoa preparations, and lactose, maltose and sugar syrup.

Integrated market

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said at the Summit that there was an ongoing process of building an open and integrated market from the Himalayas to the Pacific, covering a vast and dynamic economic region. "South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) could have a major role to play in this new emerging architecture," Dr Singh said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that historically connectivity — physical, economic and of the mind, had enabled the region to fully use its geographical and resource endowments, for ensuring peace and prosperity here. "South Asia has flourished most when connected to itself and the rest of the world," Dr Singh said.

Climate change

Emphasising on the need of having energy and food as also a scheme for protection against climate change, the Prime Minister pointed out that these were issues that impacted the region's development strategies and needed focused attention.

"All of South Asia is now or will soon be short of energy. A South Asian energy community could start by harmonising systems, methods and grid structures and ultimately move on to an energy exchange with energy markets that cover the whole South Asian region. Promoting appropriate local technologies for harnessing renewable energy is an area we could consider for future cooperation," Dr Singh said.

Food bank

The Prime Minister also announced the setting up of a regional food bank to improve the food security situation in the region. "It will meet shortages and losses caused by natural calamities such as floods and droughts," he said.

Underscoring the importance of people-to-people contact, Dr Singh announced that India was unilaterally liberalising the issuance of visa for students, teachers, professors, journalists and patients from SAARC countries. "Let us aim to double the intra-SAARC flow of tourists in the next five years," he said. Further more to get over logistic problems, the Prime Minister proposed direct air links be established between all SAARC capitals.

"There is today economic vibrancy and social change in every country of South Asia. Never before has it been truly within our capacity to envisage a future where our people are free of the twin curses of poverty and disease," the Prime Minister said.

More Stories on : Foreign Relations | Foreign Trade | Policy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
PM allows duty-free access to Bangladesh, 3 others

North cools from passing westerly, no respite for South

The `option' issue unlikely to trip the Hutch deal

Govt scraps additional duties on cement imports

Hershey takes 51% in Godrej Beverages for $60 m

Retail participation slows down for mutual funds

PSU stocks outperform other indices

Zee launches Rs 100-crore cricket league

Logan launched at Rs 4.28 lakh

Bond market witnesses meltdown

ICICI Bank gives green push to debit cards

PSU banks mulling lending rate hike

DoT may give BPOs more time to register