Dhaka, January 8: Former Deputy High Commissioner for Bangladesh to India, Mashfee Binte Shams called the business ties between India and Bangladesh as "remarkable."
When asked how can closed neighbors like India and Bangladesh resolve current tensions while maintaining strong people-to-people and business ties, Shams said that both sides must remember that "they are dependent on each other' and are in a "symbiotic relationship."
"The business ties between Bangladesh and India are actually quite remarkable. Right now India is our largest export destination in Asia and we are importing around USD 17-18 billion worth of products from India. In addition to that, that's the formal trade. In addition to that, there are many more dependencies," she said.
Shams said that the business between the two countries was that of USD 18 billion, which is a good number.
"Sometimes it seems that we in Bangladesh are totally dependent on Indian products or Indian imports. But on the other hand, we in Bangladesh also believe that there are many things in Bangladesh that India is also dependent upon. For example, this 18 billion market is not a very small market. So that way I would like to think that the business relationship between the two countries is quite substantive and we can only try to nurture it and try to make it even bigger because it is definitely a win-win situation," she said.
Shams said that business with India saves Bangladesh money, as India is a competitive market.
"When we import from India we do it because this is the, most competitive in terms of prices and time and it serves the Indian exporters. They can really get their money quickly instead of exporting to a further destination. The transportation costs are so much less than in case of exporting to some other country. So let's not think that it's only Bangladesh who is depending on India for business," she told ANI.
The former envoy further said that Bangladesh and India, both have a 'win-win situation' in terms of people-to-people ties as Bangladesh avails medical and education facilities in India.
"People to people contact wise also I know that there is a narrative that Bangladesh is dependent on India for medical treatment and for other tourism issues education but you know this medical treatment that we are getting from India is not free. The people are paying for it. The education that we are getting in India is not also free. People are also paying for it. So there's a symbiotic relationship. And the sooner we realize that both sides are benefiting from it, I think the sooner we will be able to support this sort of people to people contact and the business relationship. Because it is clearly not a one-sided affair but a win-win situation for both the sides. So the public on both sides need to recognize it... and not try to harp on a certain one-sided narrative as if it's only Bangladesh who is benefiting from relationship with India," she said.
Being asked how she assesses the current state of India-Bangladesh relations under the present government, Shams told ANI that the foundation of relations between both the countries is strong and have not reached 'unmanageable' situation.
"The relationship has a very strong foundation. There are a lot of commonalities where we need to work together. We have been working together. You know there are certain blips that happen in relationship in the history of relationships between countries. I would say whatever is happening now, if you look at the media it seems as if the two countries are at the brink of something terrible. But I think if we look at it in an overall perspective of relationships, I think it will be possible to manage the relationship and it has not gone to unmanageable positions," she said.
