Staff Correspondent

The government has yet to overcome the impediments over procurement of four lakh tonnes of rice out of the five lakh India pledged to provide Bangladesh, the food adviser said Sunday.

"We are maintaining persistent communication with India. We hope that we will be able overcome the crisis within a short time," AMM Shawkat Ali told reporters at his office.

A meeting between delegates of the two countries scheduled to be held Sunday, did not take place as the Indian team did not arrive, Ali said. "We will see a satisfactory outcome to the problem when they come," he said. Indian high commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty gave the same reply.

He told reporters, after a meeting with communications adviser Ghulam Quader, the shipment of one lakh tonnes of rice was arriving in line with the agreement between the two countries.

The rest would arrive in time, the Indian high commisssioner said: "There is no reason to worry about it." Questioned by reporters about whether the rice would after before or after the boro season, Pinak questioned back: "Will the boro production this season see a good harvest?"

"Then you will not require the rice anymore." Delegates of the two countries met on Mar 17 and 18 to set the price for the four lakh tonnes of rice in question, and schedules for the shipment.

The two-day meeting, however, ended without any firm decisions.

The Indian delegates asked for more time to discuss with the matter with their central government, saying they would return on Mar 23. Pius Costa, director general of the Food Directorate, hoped that the two countries would be able to reach a satisfactory decision in their next meeting.

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