I only speak with reference. Despite India's ban on exports of cotton it is not imposing any ban on Bangladesh, only exception in this regard. See, I have reason to be Indian dalal. Long live India-Bangladesh friendship.
Bangladesh to get 20 lakh bales Indian cotton
Our Bureau
Signs pact on textiles sector collaboration
New Delhi, Aug. 19:
India has promised to supply up to 20 lakh bales of raw cotton to Bangladesh every year irrespective of any ban that may be imposed on its exports in future.
The two countries discussed the finer details of a Cotton Purchase Agreement, yet to be signed, at a meeting between Textile Ministers from both sides on Monday.
“In 2013-14 cotton season, I have assured Bangladesh that the country’s textile mills would not have any difficulties in sourcing cotton from India,” Textile Minster K. Sambasiva Rao said at a joint press conference with his Bangladeshi counterpart Abdul Latif Siddiqui after the meeting.
There is, however, yet to be an agreement on whether the cotton purchase pact would be Business-to-Business (B2B) or Business-to-Government (B2G). While India wants it to be a B2G arrangement, with public sector procurement agency Cotton Corporation of India canalising the exports, Bangladesh wants it to be strictly a B2B affair.
“Bangladesh feels that it is a lot cheaper to buy it from a private seller rather than a Government agency and it also takes less time,” a Textile Ministry official told
Business Line.
But India’s argument is that when there is a ban on exports of the raw material in the country, the only feasible way to export it would be through a canalising agency.
Bangladesh had wanted to sign a Cotton Purchase Agreement with India since the country imposed a temporary ban on its exports in March last year.
The two countries, on Monday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on textiles sector collaboration that would facilitate trade through a joint working group. The joint working group will develop collaborations between fashion institutes, skill building institutions and research institutions in the two countries.
India’s textile imports from Bangladesh, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in September 2011 following which import duties were reduced further, has increased to $289 million in 2012 compared to $164 million in 2010.
amiti.sen@thehindu.co.in
(This article was published on August 19, 2013)
Bangladesh to get 20 lakh bales Indian cotton | Business Line