Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s historic visit to Dhaka next week, a report by a think tank here has suggested that India should make unilateral trade concessions to Bangladesh and urged both countries to ?overcome mutual suspicions? to forge a strategic partnership.

The report by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), a premier think tank, was unveiled here ahead of Manmohan Singh’s Sep 6-7 visit to Dhaka.

Manmohan Singh will be accompanied by chief ministers of India’s five northeastern states in a visit that is expected to accelerate the ongoing transformation of India-Bangladesh relations.

The two neighbours are set to sign a deal next week to swap 162 ?enclaves? to resolve their over six-decades old border dispute. The visit will also see New Delhi taking significant initiatives to reduce trade deficit and making fresh announcements on assistance to infrastructure projects in Bangladesh.

The IDSA report underlined that Manmohan Singh’s visit provides ?an opportunity to take India-Bangladesh relations to a higher trajectory and move towards a strategic partnership?.

Liberalised visa regime, increased cooperation in combating terrorism, the settlement of boundary issues and exploration of cooperation in new areas like IT and climate change are among key suggestions made by scholars of the IDSA in a report entitled, ‘India and Bangladesh: Moving Towards Convergence’.

Alluding to the contentious issue of the trade deficit, the report suggested that India should think of making unilateral concessions to reward Bangladesh for cooperation with India in security matters.

India ?can consider abrogating the negative list or at least make it as small as possible?, said the report.

India and Bangladesh “should overcome mutual suspicions” and show a will to turn their ties into a strategic partnership, said the report.

It recommended that the two countries should explore new areas of cooperation on climate change, science and technology, IT and communication, space, medicine and health, disaster management, food and energy security etc.

The report focused on enhancing connectivity and boosting people-to-people contacts to broad-base the relationship.

“Increased connectivity will need to be supplemented by a liberal visa regime to facilitate tourism, student exchanges, cultural contacts etc. However, given security concerns, liberalisation will have to be undertaken gradually,” the report added.

While Bangladesh has taken steps to address India’s security concerns, India has shown sensitivity to Bangladesh’s concerns and come out with a comprehensive assistance and cooperation package for it.

This has created the environment for transformation of India-Bangladesh ties, said the report authored by Arvind Gupta, Anand Kumar, Smruti Pattanaik, Sreeradha Datta and Ashok Behuria.

Stating that good relations between India and Bangladesh will have positive influence on the region, the report said that countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand will benefit from trade and transit connectivity between India and Bangladesh.

The legacy issues - demarcation of the land border, exchange of enclaves and adverse possessions, and Teen Bigha corridor flyover should be settled as a package, suggested the report.

“Both countries have nearly reached an agreement on sharing of the water of Teesta and four other rivers. Minor differences should not be allowed to come in the way and an agreement should be signed,” said the report.