India has agreed to an annual quota facility for the export of seven daily essentials— including rice, wheat, sugar, and onion— to Bangladesh as per the country’s demand, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said.
“Annual quota facility has been sought to India for importing major essential items like rice, wheat, sugar, and onion to face the possible food crisis. They (India) have agreed to fix such quota as per our requirement,” the minister told reporters at a press conference at Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka on Tuesday.
He was briefing the media about the outcomes of the two-day Bangladesh-India commerce minister-level meeting held on December 22-23 in New Delhi. Commerce minister led the Bangladesh delegation in the meeting held in New Delhi while Indian Commerce and Indian Minister Piyush Goyal led the Indian side.
Regarding the annual quota, the commerce minister said that India has apprised the Bangladesh delegation that they would fix the quota within the next two months after reviewing the actual demand of Bangladesh.
The minister said both Bangladesh and India have agreed to sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) within the shortest possible time.
‘Hopefully such agreement will be signed very soon,’ he added.
