Joint Statement on Hasina’s India Visit: Bangladesh calls its own system discriminatory to India

Bangladesh has called one of its own systems discriminatory towards India in the joint the statement issued on 8 April by Bangladesh and India during prime minister’s state visit to India.

However it was not clear if it was an oversight on Bangladesh’s part.

Para 35 of the statement read: “The two prime ministers noted the current level of bilateral trade between the two countries and agreed that it has potential for growth. In this regard, they emphasized the need to remove all trade barriers including removal of port restrictions to facilitate trade between the two countries. Prime minister Hasina also drew attention of prime minister Modi to recent imposition of anti-dumping duties by Indian authorities on export of Jute from Bangladesh and requested him to review this decision. India assured that it would look into the matter.

“Bangladesh also assured India to consider India’s request for doing away with the discriminatory regime of ‘Minimum Import Price’ in respect of import of certain products from India to Bangladesh,” read the statement.

Former diplomats said, describing Bangladesh’s own system as discriminatory in an international document eventually goes against Bangladesh’s interests and Bangladesh should have gone through the statement before it was issued.

They said when the joint statement calls a system ‘discriminatory’, it suggests that both the prime ministers, and both the countries, have agreed to call it ‘discriminatory’.

And what is called discriminatory here in the joint statement is Bangladesh’s regime of ‘Minimum Import Price’ in respect of import of certain products from India to Bangladesh.

The former diplomats also asked why Bangladesh introduced such a system if the country itself sees it as a ‘discriminatory regime’, why it didn’t revoke the regime once it came to know it as a discriminatory one and why Bangladesh has gone so far as to call it a discriminatory regime in an international document.

When his attention was drawn to these questions, foreign affairs secretary Md. Shahidul Haque told South Asian Monitor that the government doesn’t see the issue in such a manner.

Asked whether it tarnishes Bangladesh’s dignity, Shahidul said: “We’re not seeing the matter in such a manner.”

The foreign secretary declined to take any further questions in this regard and hung up the phone.

This correspondent failed to contact the foreign minister or the state minister for foreign affairs despite repeated attempts, to get their version of the issue.

The commerce secretary, Shubhashish Bose, received the phone and listened to the correspondent, but hang up saying he will talk about the matter later. He, however, didn’t receive phone from this correspondent ever since.

When contacted, former diplomat Farooq Sobhan said: “This has not been appropriate. It might have problems regarding trade and commerce and that could be solved through discussions.”

“But, it [calling one’s own system discriminatory] goes against us. I don’t know how it happened.”

Asked if it was a mistake on the part of Bangladesh, Farooq Sobhan said: “How can it be a mistake? The joint statement is written based on discussions between the two countries.

“As far as I know, the draft is usually prepared by the host country. But we should’ve seen it and thus amended the paragraph.”

The article was originally published on 02 May 2017 in South Asian Monitor, link: https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/05/02/joint-statement-hasinas-india-visit-bangladesh-calls-system-discriminatory-india/