Wishing Bangladesh on Mujib Barsho, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan on Monday said that India and Bangladesh should look now at the trade in the services instead of just trade in goods.
"As we celebrate Mujib Barsho this year and the 50th year of liberation of Bangladesh as well as the establishment of diplomatic relations next year, we must do all that it takes to ensure that values that we fought and stood for remain cherished," Muraleedharan said during a digital conference on 'Doing Business with Bangladesh'.
He said that India and Bangladesh have scripted a 'Shonali Adhyaya' -- a golden chapter -- in their partnership, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
"As we are also looking at creating a new economic partnership for the future, there are opportunities to go beyond trade in goods and look at the trade in services," he said.
He further said, "As India and Bangladesh share the largest border, we need to focus on the socio-economic development of bordering districts on both sides. Sometimes for want of opportunities available, we have criminal elements committing crimes, attacking security forces and disturbing the peace and harmony that exists between our two countries. There is an urgent need to focus on the development of these areas and therefore haats spread along the border is a welcome development. In the same spirit, we should cooperate on developmental works that get undertaken on either side of the border."
Speaking on India's role in Bangladesh's "Made in Bangladesh" brand, he said, "We see Bangladesh as a partner in the value chain. India will continue to be a reliable and efficient supplier of raw material to Bangladesh. I recommend that we explore more cooperation in this important sector like facilitating exchanges between our premier textile design institutes, capacity building, textile machinery etc."
The Minister of State said that both India and Bangladesh have been able to maintain a low mortality rate amid the coronavirus pandemic despite having a dense population. "India has conducted an online programme for medical professionals exclusively in Bangla language at the request of Bangladeshi participants and we stand prepared to further assist Bangladesh in mitigating the health and economic impact of the pandemic."
( With inputs from ANI )