The decision to allow 3,000 tonnes of hilsa to be exported to India from Bangladesh ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja festivities was made considering the greater interests of the country, according to Salehuddin Ahmed, commerce adviser to the interim government.Bangladesh usually exports hilsa to India ahead of Durga Puja each year as a gesture of goodwill.
However, on August 11, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter told journalists that the interim government wanted to increase the supply of the national fish in the domestic market, adding that she did not approve of sending hilsa abroad without meeting the needs of the country’s people.
In another turn of events on Saturday, the commerce ministry said in a statement that the government would allow 3,000 tonnes of hilsa to be exported, referring to a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ahmed added that 3,000 tonnes accounted for less than 0.5 percent of the total hilsa production, which stood at more than 5.30 lakh tonnes last year.
There are emotional entanglements and friendly relations between Bangladesh and India, the adviser said. For instance, India has already lowered the duty on exports of onions.
“Moreover, hilsa is smuggled out of Bangladesh to India,” he said, adding that hilsa export would also bring in some US dollars.Salehuddin Ahmed also the finance adviser, was questioned by journalists about the hilsa issue after holding a meeting with Jayendu De, the International Monetary Fund’s resident representative for Bangladesh, Marie Masdupuy, French ambassador to Bangladesh, and Park Young Sik, the South Korean ambassador to Bangladesh, at the secretariat in Dhaka yesterday.
