India has offered Bangladesh a fresh $1bn credit line for the development of the country’s road communications and infrastructure, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.
He made the disclosure following a meeting with Sujata Mehta, the visiting secretary of India’s External Affairs Ministry, at his office yesterday.
“They have asked us regarding the sectors we are willing to spend the loan in,” Muhith said.
Although the Indian authorities offered the soft loan for projects on infrastracture and transport system, the finance minister said Bangladesh was more keen on spending the money on health and education sectors.
The offer for the new credit line comes after a similar $1bn credit line agreement that was signed between New Delhi and Dhaka in 2010.
Talking to reporters, Sujata Mehta said the fresh credit line is expected to be finalised when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Dhaka.
The secretary said India was putting extra efforts in developing infrastructure in the region as part of the Indian and Bangladeshi governments’ work on establishing regional connectivity with Bhutan and Nepal.
He further assured that contracts signed during the tenure of former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh would be continued under the Modi administration.
Meanwhile, AMA Muhith said yesterday’s meeting held discussions about naval transit for the tourists of the two countries. “We have already discussed the naval transit. We hope the Indian authorities can give a proposal for naval transit and Bangladesh authority will also give a similar proposal regarding the matter,” the minister said.
