South Asia

India is happy with Bangladesh's transition from least developed country to developing country Bangladesh-India
PID and PIB Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi

India is happy with Bangladesh's transition from least developed country to developing country

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 06 Mar 2021, 07:19 pm

Dhaka, March 6: India is very happy that Bangladesh has been recommended by the United Nations to transition from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to a developing country. However, despite the economic development, they will continue to cooperate with Bangladesh.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told a weekly briefing in New Delhi on Friday that Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at a joint press conference in Dhaka recently praised and lauded Bangladesh's transition from the LDC.

Srivastava said, "We are happy with Bangladesh's transition from LDCs and will continue to work with them on this growth path."

The spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs was asked whether Bangladesh, as a least developed country, would enjoy the same tariff and quota-free trade benefits that India enjoyed under the SAFTA (South Asian Regional Free Trade Agreement) even after the transition from LDCs.

In response, he said the Prime Ministers of both India and Bangladesh had instructed their respective officials to expedite the completion of a joint study on the possibility of a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

The issue of the new agreement came up at a virtual conference between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 17.

Srivastava said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the recent India-Bangladesh Virtual Conference appreciated the duty and quota-free facilities provided to Bangladesh. India has been providing this facility to Bangladesh since 2011 on SAFTA basis.

Recently, the United Nations Committee on Development Policy (CDP) recommended that Bangladesh be moved from a least developed country to a developing country. As a rule, recognition of a developing country can be obtained if three conditions are met and the criteria are maintained in two consecutive reviews.