India and the UK have softened positions on most of their points of contention as both nations try to wrap up trade talks ahead of expected national polls next year, according to people with the knowledge of the matter.

 

While New Delhi has agreed to slash tariffs on British cars and scotch whisky, the UK is willing to relax some visa rules for Indian professionals, Indian officials said, asking not be identified as the discussions are private. Nevertheless, with immigration a politically sensitive subject in the UK, a British official indicated any visa relaxations are likely to be limited.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak are pushing to double bilateral trade by 2030 through a pact that slashes tariffs and increases market access. The two governments hope to wind up the trade talks before year-end, Indian and British officials said.

 

Britain is willing to accept New Delhi’s standards on environment protections and labor — a key Indian demand given the differences in economic development and sensitivities involved for its micro-, small- and medium-sized firms, the officials added.

 

Striking a trade accord is critical for India’s ambition to become a manufacturing powerhouse, while the UK is seeking to clinch new deals to highlight the benefits of Brexit. Sunak and Modi will have an opportunity to discuss the matter face-to-face at a Group of 20 summit in New Delhi next month.

 

A spokesperson for the UK trade department said its made 'good progress' in closing chapters and both countries are now 'laser-focused' on goods, services and investment.

 

'While we cannot comment on ongoing negotiations, we are clear that we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, balanced, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy,' they said.

 

The negotiations on visas are likely to be particularly sensitive. India has long demanded increased access for its citizens, but the UK’s vote for Brexit in 2016 was fueled in part by calls for greater control over the numbers of people coming into the country, and immigration remains a hot-button topic ahead of the next general election.

 

Underscoring the difficulties Sunak’s government faces, net migration to the UK reached a record 606,000 people last year, while separate visa data has shown one in three residence visas were granted to Indian workers. A UK official said talks are centering on time-limited business visas for highly skilled workers.

 

The deal, if it materializes, will be India’s biggest and most ambitious free trade agreement to date. This comes at a time when many western economies are pinning their hopes on the South Asian nation to become a bulwark against China’s growing economic and military clout.

 

Good Progress

Even as the two nations have been reluctant to set a date for completing the talks after missing a deadline last year, negotiations have been progressing well, the people said. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s decision to visit Britain last month put political momentum behind talks, one UK official said.

 

The Sunak administration is also considering signing an agreement that will help Indians claw back half a billion pounds in payments made by them toward Britain’s social security system, the Indian officials said.

 

India is looking to bring down the import duty on cars to 75% from the current 100%. However, this will exclude small capacity cars and there would be a cap on the number of vehicles sold under these lower tariffs, the people said.

 

Similarly, on scotch whisky, New Delhi may slash duties to 100% from the existing 150% charged above a minimum import price. The premium category may see a steeper tariff cut. Easier market access in both these sectors has been one of the main demands of the UK.

 

Most of the debate is now centered on determining the criteria for the import duty cuts on goods under the trade deal and India’s proposal for an investment protection treaty, the officials from New Delhi said.

 

The UK and India are yet to concur on the contours of the treaty promoting and protecting investments on a reciprocal basis, the officials said. New Delhi’s proposal to exhaust local judicial remedies before initiating international arbitration in case of disputes has still not found favor with the UK, they added.

India is in talks with Russia to import wheat at a discount to surging global prices in a rare move to boost supplies and curb food inflation ahead of state and national elections next year, according to four sources.

 

The imports would allow New Delhi to intervene more effectively in the market to drive down wheat prices that stoked inflation to a 15-month high in July.

 

'The government is exploring the possibility of imports through private trade and government-to-government deals. The decision will be made cautiously,' one of the sources told Reuters, when asked about wheat imports from Russia.

 

India has not imported wheat through diplomatic deals in years. The last time India imported a significant amount of wheat was in 2017, when private traders shipped in 5.3 million metric tons.

 

The government's plan to import Russian wheat is one of the supply-side measures being considered to bring down prices of key commodities like fuel, cereals and pulse along with an extension of rural schemes to ease the impact of inflation on the poor, two of the sources with knowledge of the matter said.

 

Sources did not want to be named as the discussions are private and the final decision might be weeks away. India's finance, trade and government spokespersons did not reply to emails and messages seeking comment.

 

Last month, Sanjeev Chopra, the most senior civil servant at the federal food ministry, said there was no proposal to import wheat from Russia.

 

LOW WHEAT STOCKS

 

Although India needs only 3 million to 4 million metric tons of wheat to plug the shortfall, New Delhi might consider importing 8 million to 9 million tons of wheat from Russia to have a far bigger impact on prices, another source said.

 

Since the war in Ukraine last year, Russia has become India's second biggest seller of goods mainly on account of discounted oil purchases by New Delhi.

 

'Russia has indicated its willingness to offer a discount on prevailing market prices. There are no restrictions on the export of food commodities from Russia,' one official said.

 

India is also importing sunflower oil from Russia and settling payments in U.S. dollars and is planning to use the same approach, the official added.

 

'India can easily secure a discount of $25 to $40 per ton from Russia. This will ensure that the landed cost of wheat remains significantly below local prices,' said a dealer based in Mumbai with a global trade house.

 

Wholesale wheat prices in India surged around 10% over two months to a seven-month high in August on limited supplies.

 

Wheat stocks at government warehouses were at 28.3 million tons on Aug. 1, 20% below the 10-year average.

 

Last year, India banned wheat exports due to lower output, and this year's crop is also expected to be at least 10% lower than the government's estimate.

Ahead of the 12th round of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations starting in New Delhi on Wednesday, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK has expressed optimism that officials on both sides will be 'able to get something working' and find a 'right fit' towards a mutually beneficial pact. High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami told PTI that he is positive as both countries seem keen to make necessary adjustments, recognising the complexities involved with the very different structures of the two similar-sized economies.

 

On the wider bilateral partnership, he expressed similar optimism around an 'obvious synergy' across different sectors.

 

'I'm positive about it (FTA)… My intention is that to the extent we can, we would like a mutually beneficial forward-looking FTA to be concluded,' said the High Commissioner.

 

'I believe both sides are keen on making the necessary adjustments. Even though we're both similar-sized economies, we are dissimilar in the structures of our economies and the complexities of our economies. So, getting the right fit together is very important,' he said.

 

The senior diplomat closely involved with the FTA negotiations, which began in January last year, noted that it is important that the UK side recognises some of the complexities of the structure of the Indian economy.

 

'It can't be the same as a free trade agreement with a peer-developed country. On the other hand, we too have to take into account the fact that the UK hasn't actually negotiated many free trade agreements in recent years when it was part of the European Union. So, there are those things that have to be adjusted. But overall, the trend line seems very positive,' he said.

 

The 11th round of negotiations concluded on July 18, with a joint outcome statement saying it covered detailed draft treaty text discussions across nine policy areas. According to official UK government statistics, the bilateral trade partnership was worth around GBP 36 billion in 2022 and an FTA is set to significantly enhance that relationship.

 

'I think our government has been very clear that we want the best possible partnership with the UK and, I believe, from what I hear from the UK leadership on both sides of the political aisle as well as from the senior leadership of the government here, that they too want a forward-looking partnership with us,' said Doraiswami.

 

India's Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said the 11th round of talks in London was 'very intense' and many issues got closed.

 

Out of the total 26 chapters in the proposed FTA, 19 have been closed. Investment is being negotiated as a separate agreement (bilateral investment treaty) between India and the UK.

 

'Now, there are only a few issues left. The UK team is coming to India during the Trade and Investment Working Group meeting (in Jaipur) and we are hoping that we would be closing those remaining issues.

 

'So, our target is that we close the issues with the UK when the UK team visits us in India and we are very hopeful that the issues will be sorted out,' Barthwal told reporters in New Delhi on Monday.

 

Noting that India-UK history is a complex one, High Commissioner Doraiswami stressed the importance of the bilateral partnership after 76 years of Independence from colonial rule to be informed by what happened in the past but not allow 'ourselves to become prisoners of it'.

 

'It's important that we build a relationship that touches upon our respective strengths. London is still one of the world's great capitals of finance, for instance. India is the future direction of global growth. There is an obvious synergy between the need for high-quality, well-priced finance for our infrastructure rollout, for our green transitions. And, there is obviously a need for quality finance to find the best possible rewards in terms of places to go to invest. Both of these obviously speak for themselves,' he said.

 

Asked about the recent visit to India of UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, who announced a GBP 95,000 fund to tackle Pro-Khalistan Extremism in the wake of an attack on the High Commission in London in March, the High Commissioner said it marked a milestone moment in enhancing the security pillar of the bilateral partnership.

 

'We live in an uncertain and often challenging world, increasingly so… It makes absolute sense for countries like the UK and India to work much more closely together to recognise that there are more complex challenges than the simple ones that people talk about. It's not just nation-states alone. There are challenges in terms of what is happening among communities, how communities are being radicalised, how it is changing the shape of domestic politics,' he said.

 

'In all of this, it is important for countries like the UK to work with us because we too have an understanding of how some of this happens. So, the visit of Security Minister Tugendhat last week is a very important milestone and I think he would have come back with a strong sense of how keen we are to make a proper, viable functioning security pillar part of our partnership,' he added.

 

On the business aspect of the relationship, the envoy pointed to how Indian businesses have built a huge presence in the UK market and stressed that 'it is really now time that we got more British businesses into India as well'.

As floods in parts of China impact production, Indian red chilli exporters expect demand to return from the largest buyer amidst declining stocks in the neighbouring country. As a result, prices, which had retraced from the high levels in May, are seen rebounding in the weeks ahead.

 

China, the largest buyer of Indian chillies, had made aggressive purchases till May this year and the demand had slowed down in recent months.

 

Bangla too joins the list

'China’s production in some areas has been affected by 30-40 per cent due to floods and it may renter the market again. With fresh buying coming up from China and also from Bangladesh, we expect prices to go up by ?10-20 per kg in the coming weeks,' said Sambasiva Rao Velagapudi, Chairman, All India Chilli Exporters Association in Guntur, the largest market-yard for the spices crop.

 

Rao said chilli stocks in China are down by about 75 per cent. 'A month ago, China had 2,000 containers of stocks. Now they are having only 500 containers,' Rao said, adding that the low stocks would trigger renewed demand from the neighbouring buyer.

 

India’s chilli exports touched a record high in value during 2022-23 fiscal, exceeding ?10,444 crore, as per Spices Board data. China had purchased over 1.57 lakh tonnes of Indian chillies valued at over ?3,408 crore in 2022-23, accounting for about a third of the export value. Chilli is the largest produce in India’s spices export basket, accounting for almost a third of the value of overall shipments of ?31,761 crore.

 

After hitting a high of ?220-240 per kg in May, prices of Teja chilli, the pungent variety preferred by Chinese buyers, retraced a bit on slack demand during recent months. Now, prices of Teja chilli are likely to return to the ?220-245 range, Rao said, adding that another variety Super 10, which has medium pungency, is ruling in the same range. 'We are also expecting good demand for Super 10 chilli from Sri Lanka and Malaysia,' Rao said.

 

India’s current chilli stocks are similar to last year’s levels, Rao said, adding that in Guntur and Andhra stocks are estimated at around 60 lakh bags (of 40-kg each). The current stocks in Telangana are at around 27 lakh bags and 30 lakh bags in Karnataka, he added.

 

Further, Rao said many people who had bought at high prices during March-May may not want to sell now and wait for better prices till November-December.

 

'The market (prices) has been subdued in the last few weeks, with the price of chillis (Teja) hovering around ?24,000 per quintal. We expect the Chinese buyers to come back in the next few weeks in the wake of depleting stocks. If they come back, we expect the prices to go up by ?2,000-4,000 a quintal,' Rama Rao, a chilli exporter from Khammam, one of the major chilli trading centres in the country, said.

 

Another exporter, wishining anonymity, said that the Chinese stocked piled chilli by buying big time in May. 'If we go by the indications, their stocks plummetated. India being a major chilli producer in the world, we expect them to resume purchases in large quantities in the next few weeks,' he said.

 

Telangana is ranks fourth in chilli area with 1.55 lakh hectares and second in chilli production with 7.19 lakh tonnes. According to the Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, the Guntur market, a hub for chilli trade, recorded arrivals of 1.55 lakh tonnes in January-February 2023, against 1.19 lakh tonnes during the same period previous year, showing a growth of 30.66 per cent.

The fact that India-Canada trade and economic relations have stagnated at such low levels seems even more surprising since the solution to reverse status quo was provided by the businesses of the two countries as far back as in 2008.

 

When India and Canada began negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2010, the primary reason for doing so was the large untapped markets waiting to be exploited by their businesses. India-Canada trade links were at unacceptably low levels despite the large presence of the Indian diaspora in Canada, the third-largest in the developed world after the US and the UK. Since the mid-2000s, India has had a minor presence in Canada’s market. Imports from India have been less than1% of Canada’s total imports, although this share has been increasing in recent years and was just over 1% in 2022. Similarly, Canada’s share in India’s total imports exceeded the 1% threshold only in 2015-16. 

 

Clearly, the businesses in the two countries have made little efforts to galvanise India-Canada trade relations. A recent report by the Canada-India Business Council summed up the situation from the Canadian perspective quite well. The report argued that Canadian exporters and investors have not taken full advantage of the wealth of opportunities open to them since for many, India is at best an afterthought.

 

The fact that India-Canada trade and economic relations have stagnated at such low levels seems even more surprising since the solution to reverse status quo was provided by the businesses of the two countries as far back as in 2008. The India-Canada CEO Round Table had recommended that India and Canada should formalise the CEPA that would benefit the two countries through market opening initiatives, including elimination of tariffs on a substantially large share of the products traded between the two countries, liberalising services trade, and inclusion of other areas of economic cooperation. This was the most effective justification for the CEPA, based on which the two governments initiated the process of negotiations for opening their respective markets for enhancing the levels of trade and investment.

 

It must be pointed out that the CEPA negotiations followed the Canadian approach towards engaging in bilateral free trade agreements, which has been to negotiate three separate but linked agreements, namely, a comprehensive market opening agreement covering goods, services, and investment, coupled with parallel agreements on labour cooperation and on environmental standards. Interestingly, Canada insisted on including the agreements on labour cooperation and environment standards despite being aware that “while Canada will pursue adherence to international standards for labour and environment protection, India has—in the past—resisted the inclusion of labour and environmental measures in international trade agreements”. This position of the Canadian government was revealed to Standing Committee on International Trade of the Canadian House of Commons, which reviewed the progress of the CEPA negotiations between 2011 and 2013. 

 

Thus, given this stance of the Canadian government, it appeared from the initial phases of the CEPA negotiations that an agreement encompassing all the areas was not easy to achieve. Even the businesses that had provided the initial impetus for the two countries to conclude the CEPA seemed uncertain about the nature of the final agreement. 

 

The Canada-India Business Council opined that it was “to be expected that a possible Canada-India CEPA would not be as comprehensive as a possible trade agreement between Canada and the European Union, for instance”. On the other hand, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce argued that a Canada-India CEPA should be “a comprehensive, balanced, and high-quality agreement that will ensure long-term, real market access for Canadian exporters of goods and services”

 

Differences in negotiating approaches put the CEPA negotiations on the backburner in 2017, and it remains so till date. After a four-year hiatus, the India and Canada agreed to relaunch the CEPA negotiations, with their trade ministers also agreeing to consider an Interim Agreement or Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA), that could bring early commercial gains. The Interim Agreement is expected to include high level commitments in goods, services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement. India and Canada decided to strengthen their trade and commercial ties by focusing on agro products, chemicals, footwear, textiles, automobiles, energy, electronics, minerals and metals, urban development, information technology and tourism.

 

There were several interesting facets to this relaunch of CEPA negotiations, and more importantly, through the decision to consider the Interim Agreement or the EPTA. First, the EPTA seems to be modelled on the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), adopted in 2022 as the first step towards an eventual CEPA between the two countries. Secondly, like the ECTA, the EPTA is a more conventional FTA that includes market access for goods and services, and complementary rules packaged together to ensure immediate gains. And finally, while relaunching the negotiations, the two countries have carefully avoided any references to the contentious issues like labour and environmental standards.

 

However, the agreement to pursue the EPTA by putting the CEPA on the backburner does not imply that the pathway to the interim agreement will be smooth. This is because market access negotiations involving a few sectors that the trade ministers have been identified as the drivers of the bilateral trade ties may not be easy. For instance, Canada has significant export interest in automobiles, but India’s domestic industry has been reluctant to allow deep cuts in tariffs. Pulses is another area in which Canada would seek assured levels market access from India. India would be looking for greater access for its generic pharmaceutical industry and textiles and clothing.

 

India’s recent experiences of negotiating bilateral trade agreements with Australia and now with Canada has some important lessons for its future engagements with advanced countries. It seems prudent to forge interim agreements by identifying the areas in which agreements can easily be reached; the contentious issues should not prevent securing early gains from the trade deals.

Nepal's festive season, which occurs between October and November, could be at risk of experiencing elevated prices for rice and sugar if measures to ensure a steady supply are not effectively implemented.

 

The Nepal government has requested India to facilitate the supply of paddy, rice and sugar, a senior official said in Kathmandu on Wednesday. According to the official, Nepal has urged India as a precautionary measure to mitigate any possible food scarcity in the upcoming festive season.

 

The request was made through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Indian authorities last week, Commerce and Supplies Ministry Joint Secretary Ram Chandra Tiwari said.

 

'Nepal has requested India to provide one million tonnes of paddy, 1,00,000 tonnes of rice, and 50,000 tonnes of sugar,' he said.

 

'No immediate shortage of rice and sugar in the market: Nepal

 

Though there is no immediate shortage of rice and sugar in the market, there are rumours about its possible scarcity following India's decision to ban the export of non-basmati white rice to the international market.

 

So as a precautionary measure, the Nepal government has asked India to supply these food items, Tiwari said.

 

There are also concerns that traders might resort to hoarding these goods, potentially driving up prices as the festive season approaches, market analysts opine.

 

Nepal's festive season, which occurs between October and November, could be at risk of experiencing elevated prices for rice and sugar if measures to ensure a steady supply are not effectively implemented, they say.

 

India bans export of non-basmati white rice 

 

On July 20, the Indian government banned exports of non-basmati white rice to boost domestic supply and keep retail prices under check during the upcoming festive season. Non-basmati white rice constitutes about 25 per cent of total rice exported from the country.

 

Considering the Indian ban on non-basmati rice exports and the current weather phenomenon in Nepal, there may be a food crisis for a short period, say experts.

 

Nepal is heavily dependent on imported food, mostly from India. According to a recent report in The Kathmandu Post newspaper, from April 2021 to March 22, Nepal imported 1.4 million tonnes of rice — 1.38 million tonnes of non-basmati and 19,000 tonnes of basmati rice — from India, the highest import on record.

 

Nepali traders say that immediately after India stopped the export of rice, retail prices jumped by NRs 200 to NRs 250 per 25-kg bag. They say that prices are expected to increase further, particularly during the festive season, report said.

 

Nepal's request for foodgrains came as India is importing tomatoes from the Himalayan nation to arrest the spike in prices following heavy rainfall in key procuring centres in the country.

India is looking at Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) not only from the trade point of view but also keeping in mind the country's strategic needs, especially with regard to the smooth supply of critical minerals, a top government official said on Monday.

 

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that India is now looking at FTAs from the point of view of what is the country's strategic needs in addition to trade.

 

For instance, batteries in electric vehicles require critical minerals. India is in talks with Australia for its smooth supplies.

 

'So, in addition to trade, now, we are looking at FTAs from the point of view of our strategic considerations. So, that is the fresh approach that we are taking in our FTAs,' Barthwal told reporters.

 

Normally in a trade agreement, two or more countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. They Norms are also eased for facilitating trade in services and boost investments.

 

Securing a smooth supply of the critical minerals will help India in its energy transition.

 

Lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite are among the key minerals used in batteries.

India and the UK are currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Out of the total 26 chapters in the proposed FTA, 19 chapters have been closed

 

Among India’s top 10 export destinations, India’s merchandise exports in the first four months (April-July) of 2023-24 expanded only to the United Kingdom (UK) while shipments to all other major economies contracted amid sluggish global demand.

 

Overall merchandise exports fell 14.5 per cent to $136.2 billion during the April-July period with outbound shipments contracting for the sixth consecutive month. However, exports to the UK grew at a robust 20.6 per cent to $4.5 billion during the same period, elevating the country to India’s fifth largest export destination from eighth position during the same period in FY23.

 

While disaggregated country-wise trade data for July is not available, data for April-June period shows exports of aviation turbine fuel ($324 million), smartphones ($292.5 million) and wallpapers ($147.2 million) drove India’s exports to the UK.

 

Among other top export destinations, outbound shipments to the US (-12.5 per cent), China (-14.9 per cent), Singapore (-13 per cent) and Bangladesh (-36.5 per cent) contracted in double digits.

 

Among India’s top 10 sources for merchandise imports, except for Russia (96.3 per cent) and Switzerland (15.8 per cent), inbound shipments from the rest of the countries contracted.  While a 171 per cent jump in discounted crude oil imports drove inbound shipments from Russia during April-June period, a 30 per cent jump in gold shipments propelled imports from Switzerland during the same period.

 

India and the UK are currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Out of the total 26 chapters in the proposed FTA, 19 chapters have been closed. India is hoping to resolve pending issues like the rules of origin, bilateral investment treaty and intellectual property rights, among others, by the end of this month. Next week, key officials from the UK would be visiting India for the Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) meeting in Jaipur. Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal visited London last month to hold discussions with his counterpart Kemi Badenoch that saw the "closure of several chapters" in the negotiations.

 

'The ministers identified and focused on low-hanging fruits, which included the closure of several chapters in the negotiations. This pragmatic approach aimed at resolving issues where negotiators had encountered challenges. The visit proved to be critical in overcoming crucial obstacles and charting a path towards an ambitious and mutually beneficial trade deal,' according to a statement released by the commerce department.

 

India is also negotiating a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states that include Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Goyal held discussions on the progress of the agreement with a delegation from the European Free Trade Association, led by the Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Artieda, in London on July 11 and 12.

 

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel last week informed Parliament that FTA negotiations or its review are a long-drawn process and the timeline for completion of such negotiations cannot be predicted since the parties to the negotiations are required to agree to the outcome.

 

'The Government enters into FTA with its trading partners considering various factors such as leveraging comparative advantages and the market access thereof for Indian products including those from agriculture sector, the trade complementarities, the strategic relationship, promotion of cooperative and collaborative activities as well as the domestic sensitivities. The benefits under FTA in terms of exports or competitive and diversified imports depend on a number of factors including externalities like the domestic industrial growth, domestic consumption trajectory, growth in partner country,' Patel had told Rajya Sabha.

Agartala, August 16, 2023: In a significant development, the much-awaited India-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge, fondly known as 'Maitri Setu,' is poised to unlock new avenues of trade and communication as it prepares for its grand inauguration on September 1.

 

A pivotal meeting convened on Wednesday at 11:30 am, in the conference hall of Sabroom Nagar Panchayat, marked a crucial step forward in this historic endeavor.

 

Chaired by Saju Waheed A, the District Magistrate of the southern district, the meeting witnessed the convergence of key stakeholders including Sub-Divisional Magistrate Bidhanchandra Roy, Commandant Raspal Singh of BSF No. 96 Battalion, Land Ports Authority of India Manager Debasish Nandi, Customs Superintendent Pranesh Dhar, and Sabroom Nagar Panchayat Chairperson Rama Poddar Dey, alongside other luminaries from the Sub-Divisional Administration of Sabroom.

 

During the half-hour deliberation, an array of pertinent issues took center stage. Notably, discussions revolved around addressing the drainage challenges experienced by flood-prone areas during monsoon due to the integrated check post, the installation of a drinking water pump house, and reinforcement of the electrical infrastructure within the confines of the integrated check post.

 

Of utmost significance, District Magistrate Saju Waheed A underscored the imminent inauguration of the long-awaited 'Maitri Setu,' poised to become the gateway to South Asia. The bridge’s ceremonial opening on the 1st of the upcoming month marks a historic milestone, expected to foster robust trade and connectivity between the two nations.

 

Highlighting defense considerations, the vicinity adjacent to the integrated check post will witness deployment of the valiant jawans from the 126 Battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF), along with the presence of soldiers from the 96th Battalion of the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB).

 

District Magistrate Saju Waheed A, a key proponent of this monumental development, spoke candidly to the media, sharing insights into the day’s proceedings. The anticipated inauguration of the 'Maitri Setu' has generated palpable excitement within the public sphere, heralding a new era of cross-border cooperation and opportunity

 

It is worthy to mention here that the ‘Maitri Setu’ is 1.9 kilometres long bridge connecting Sabroom (India) and Chittagong Port (Bangladesh) which is about 80 KMs away.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Maitri Setu’ between India and Bangladesh, with his counterpart Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina in March, 2021.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced August 15 it had lowered its global rice trade forecasts for 2023 and 2024 following India’s ban on exports of non-basmati white rice in July.

 

The USDA reduced its forecast for 2023 by 1.9 million tons to 53.8 million total tons, and by 3.4 million tons to 52.9 million tons for 2024.

 

The reduction of rice exports from India in 2024 is expected to be partially offset by increased export forecasts for Russia, Pakistan, Vietnam and Brazil. Meanwhile, import forecasts fell for several major importers based in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa in both 2023 and 2024.

 

U.S. rice production is projected to increase by 27% during 2023 and 2024, while American rice exports will grow by 25% during the same period.

 

'For both years, the global export forecast is sharply lowered due to India’s July 20-announced immediate ban on sales of non-basmati and non-parboiled milled rice to ensure domestic availability of non-basmati rice and prevent higher domestic prices,' the USDA said in a report. India accounts for slightly more than 40% of global rice exports and ships rice to around 140 countries.