Diplomatic Correspondent :
Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday said, it is not true that Bangladesh has become the 4th largest remittance source for India.
He denied also saying that a very few amount of remittances travel to India from Bangladesh and obviously the amount is not $4 billion.
Shringla said these responding to the FBCCI president’s speech at a programme in the capital’s International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) on Wednesday.
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) President, Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin at the same programme said, “Bangladesh had become the 4th largest remittance source for India. We are proud of it.”
Countering the speech of the FBCCI’ President, Shringla said, “The website of the Pew Research Center was hacked and it published that Bangladesh is the 5th largest remittance source for India. More than $4.08 billion was remitted to India from the Bangladesh during 2012, compared with $15.69 Billion from UAE, $11 billion from the United States, $8.38 Billion from Saudi Arabia, $4.27 Billion from UK.”
He claimed that the information was totally false.
“A few Indian people are working in Bangladesh. It is impossible for them to earn $4 billion in a year. I can provide the entire document in favour of my speech to the FBCCI if it wants,” Shringla said.
Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury MP, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Ministry Mirza Azam, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice-President Md Nasir, among other, spoke at the inaugural ceremony of an exhibition in the Textile sector, among others.
Sames Global organised the exhibition which would continue till Saturday.
It may be mentioned that after learning the remittance figure Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) had recommended that the government should form a committee to investigate the large remittance outflows to India. This remittance is fully legal and is sent by the 500,000 or so Indians who work in Bangladesh.
That time some analysts also said that it was the official figure. An almost equal amount, if not more, is sent through hundi and other illegal methods, they said. Huge Indians illegally are staying in the country coming from the Indian states of West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura and Mizoram and are spread across numerous urban and rural areas.
