Citing the success of FTA between India and Sri Lanka, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said, "A bilateral FTA, which would be Safta plus, could also substantially address the trade deficit issue."

Addressing the captains of Indian industry and business in presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister, he said after signing the FTA, Sri Lankan exports to India rose to $200 million from just $45 million in 2001 prior to the FTA.

The balance of trade which had favoured India 15:1 when the FTA was signed has come down to 1:4 at present, Nath pointed out.

"It is in the light of this experience that the proposal for India-Bangladesh FTA should gather momentum," he said.

The Indian commerce minister suggested a commercial motor vehicles agreement for seamless transport connectivity between the two countries, which would allow trucks from both sides to enter each other's territory and said this would be similar to practices being followed in European Union and Asean.

Nath said containerized movement of goods through riverine route, land route and railways between the two countries would considerably reduce existing heavy congestion at Petrapole-Benapole station and result in faster and safer movement of goods and realization of greater revenue for the two governments.

"It would eliminate several artificial obstacles and hindrances to greater bilateral trade that are today described by the euphemism of non tariff and para-tariff barriers," he said.

At present, a container between Kolkata and Dhaka via Singapore costs 2,500 dollars and takes over 15 days but "through our common riverine transportation, this will cost only 500 dollars and take just five days", he pointed out.

Nath suggested declaring Ashuganj a port of call under the bilateral Inland Water Trade and Transit Protocol with multi modal facilities.

He said with the implementation of Safta in July this year and India's initiative to address market access issues of Bangladeshi textiles and clothing sector by offering TRQ, "we are certain that there would be a substantial increase in Bangladesh's exports to India".

He said while talking about trade gap, it should be remembered that nearly 70 percent of India's exports to Bangladesh consists of commodities and raw materials such as yarn, chemicals, petroleum products and construction materials or basic items such as rice, wheat, sugar which not only fulfill the essential demands of the people of Bangladesh but, more importantly in a commercial context, add to Dhaka's own export and manufacturing competitiveness.

So, what is necessary is not merely to look at the weight of India's trade basket but also at the content of that basket, Nath said.

Nath said Bangladesh's exports to India in the last four years had not only tripled but also outstripped Bangladesh's overall export growth rate of 14 percent.

He said, "There is no non tariff barrier by design. If there is any, it is by default."