First meeting of India-Bangladesh Joint Committee on Border Haats held in Agartala

The first meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Committee on Border Haats was held in Agartala, Tripura. The Joint Committee also visited Border Haat at Kamlasagar in Sipahijala District, Tripura and Tarapur in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.

Outcomes of meeting

Both sides noted positive impact of Border Haats on livelihoods of people living in areas adjoining Haats. They also held extensive discussions on issues related to review of operations of four functional Border Haats viz. Kalaichar (Meghalaya), Balat (Meghalaya), Kamlasagar (Tripura) and Srinagar (Tripura).
They also made suggestions for improvement, timeline for setting up six additional Border Haats that have been agreed to earlier by both sides and roadmap for further expansion of Border Haats. They also agreed that next meeting will be held in Bangladesh on mutually agreed dates.

Background

Border Haats (or rural market) aims at promoting the well-being of the people dwelling in remote areas across the borders of two countries. It seeks to establish traditional system of marketing local produce thorough local markets in local currency or according to barter basis. Though trade carried in this informal market is not significant in terms of percentage of bilateral trade, but these local measures help to improve economic well-being of marginalised sections of society. Border haats along India-Banlgadesh border are established under Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed for Border Trade and Border Haats between both countries in October 2010. India and Bangladesh had signed MoU on Border Haats in April 2017 for establishment of Joint Committee to review border haats operations, suggest modifications in operational modalities and propose new locations of Border Haats.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2018