Bangladesh: Modi govt lowers grants for Bangladesh by 40pc

Dhaka, July 14, 2014 (New Age): India’s government of prime minister Narendra Modi has lowered the grants for Bangladesh in the current year’s national budget by 40 per cent to Rs 350 crore as against Rs 580 crore last year. Bangladesh is the only country in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation region for which the Indian budget has made lower provisions, reports Times of India. Comparatively, other countries of the SAARC have got marginal hikes in grants from the Indian government this year. Even Afghanistan, where India’s engagement has increased in recent years, has been allocated Rs 676 crore, not a big hike against last year’s Rs 525 crore. Nepal, with which the PM has expressed his desire to engage more, has not found as much prominence as Bhutan in monetary terms. Among grants and loans to foreign countries, Nepal has got Rs 450 crore as against Rs 380 crore in the previous year. In case of Sri Lanka, the allocation has been Rs 500 crore, an increase of Rs 90 crore from last year. Modi’s engagement with Bhutan has helped the Kingdom nation with the grants and loans allocated to the latter going up by nearly 50 per cent — from Rs 4,100 crore last year to Rs 6,000 crore this year. Bhutan has always been getting significant financial aid from India by way of grants, both under plan and non-plan expenditure heads. This year, particularly after Modi visited the neighbouring country soon after his swearing-in, the NDA government has significantly increased the financial package. Bhutan was Modi’s first foreign visit. PM Narendra Modi showed his special emphasis on neighbourhood diplomacy with his one-on-one meetings with all SAARC heads of government on his first day in office. He had invited all SAARC leaders for his swearing in ceremony. The next day, he met Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa and heads of governments from Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and the speaker of Bangladesh parliament.