India may lower negative list for Bangladesh

October 5th, 2009 Belonia (Tripura)/FENI - Indian and Bangladeshi officials attended the inauguration of the new land custom station at India-Bangladesh border to give fillip to bilateral trade. The custom station situated in Muhurighat under Belonia subdivision in Tripura connects the state with Feni Land Port in Bangladesh.

October 1st, 2009 DHAKA - The Indian envoy to Bangladesh has offered to reduce the number of negative items on the bilateral trade list to facilitate commerce between the two neighbours. High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty has also mooted joint investments to boost bilateral trade between the two South Asian countries to offset the trade balance that is at present heavily tilted in New Delhi's favour.

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Visiting Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni today said India and Bangladesh are close to finalizing an extradition treaty. Talking to reporters at Bangladesh House in Delhi, Moni said that the extradition treaty is under discussion.

September 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Water Resource Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal met visiting Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday to discuss a dam project which is being built by India on the Barak river. India has approved plans for a 1,500 megawatt project at Tipaimukh on the river, which flows through both countries before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

August 21st, 2009 Akhaurah (India-Bangladesh Border), - Bangladesh has said it will increase trade and economic activities with India's northeast region and develop infrastructure at the border. Bangladesh Commerce Minister Colonel (retired) Faruk Khan said: "We have decided to increase trade and business with the northeastern region to reduce Bangladesh's trade gap with India.

August 8th, 2009 MALDA - Security has been stepped up along the India-Bangladesh border ahead of Independence Day. "On the occasion of August 15, we are conducting a special operation.

June 25th, 2009 DHAKA - Opposition leader Khaleda Zia is free to send her own team to see the Tipaimukh dam project in India, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said while reiterating her decision to send an all-party parliamentary team to look it up. Accusing her political rival of seeking political mileage out of the proposed dam project on Barak river in India's Manipur state, Hasina assured that her government would study the reports submitted by both teams and decide "in the best interest of the country".

May 3rd, 2009 DHAKA - New Delhi Sunday handed to Dhaka a list of suspected Indian terrorists believed to be hiding in Bangladesh, the Indian high commissioner here said. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Bangladeshi State Minister for Home Affairs Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, India's Pinak Ranjan Chakravarti said: 'We have also requested the authorities to step up vigil over them especially during the ongoing polls yet to be completed in the eastern states of India.' The envoy added that a number of issues, including extradition of prisoners, came up for discussion.

April 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bangladesh Air Force chief Air Marshal S.M. Ziaur Rehman arrived here Thursday on a five-day official visit to India.

April 9th, 2009 LONDON - The recent liberalisation of RBI removing the ban on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Bangladesh may lead towards a stable and secure trade relation between India and Bangladesh. India's decision to welcome investment from Bangladesh also, raises an expectation that foreign trade policies of both the countries will get further liberalized.

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI/KOLKATA - India and Bangladesh continued their first joint military exercise in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district Thursday amid reports that the mutiny by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troopers, which saw the killing of at least 50 people, spread beyond Dhaka. 'The Indian Army, Air Force and Bangladesh Army have been participating in the exercise to test their battlefield tactics since Feb 22.

February 26th, 2009 AGARTALA - India put its eastern borders on high alert Wednesday after a mutiny by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) left many people dead and several injured, an official said. Senior officials of the Border Security Force (BSF) rushed to the frontier along Bangladesh, BSF spokesman A.K.

January 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bolstering counter-terrorism and security cooperation will top the agenda when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee goes to Dhaka Feb 9 - the first visit by an Indian leader after the Sheikh Hasina government took over. 'There is a very positive agenda for rebuilding the relationship.

January 27th, 2009 AGARTALA - Bangladesh is keen to boost trade and commerce with northeastern India to narrow down its trade deficit with the country, an official said here Wednesday. 'Traders, industrialists and investors are really keen to boost trade and business activities with the northeast,' said Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president of the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI).

December 25th, 2008 DHAKA - Bangladesh Friday asked India to postpone a deep sea survey in its waters until a wartime maritime boundary between the neighbouring countries is settled by mutual agreement. 'Bangladesh is lodging a formal protest with the India government about activities of a survey ship in its (Bangladesh) waters,' a foreign ministry spokesman said.