BANGLA-HASINA 2 LST

"Such a meeting can pave the way for understanding and
working out a modality for introduction of something like
direct bus services. Bangladesh or Bhutan can convince India
to agree to transit for the land-locked Himalayan state," said
an official.
The official said that the economic relations division
had been asked to contact the Indian side about how Bangladesh
could receive a USD 100 million loan pledged by the India.
The Shipping Ministry has been asked to prepare its
report on use of Ashuganj port for transport of Indian goods
as per the communique.
Currently, a joint team is assessing the state of
infrastructure on the spot for transport of 'over dimensional
cargo' from Ashuganj to Agartala.
The meeting could not give any directives on duty-free
access of 47 Bangladeshi items to Indian market.
However, denying having any such list, a source in the
Commerce Ministry said Dhaka would now focus on reduction in
the number of Bangladeshi items in India's negative list for
getting market access at zero duty. PTI