Dhaka, Sep 13 - A cross-section of opinion makers in Bangladesh have welcomed a Dhaka-Delhi resolve to improve connectivity among the South Asian neighbours, but have expressed reservations on many counts.

They see the development as a window of opportunity to improve economic ties with landlocked Bhutan and Nepal, but also lament the loss of a prospective market in India's north-eastern region.

Although the proposed connectivity with Nepal and Bhutan is nothing new, this time it has come from India as a formal proposal, a trade expert said.

Past pacts that Dhaka signed to establish connectivity with Nepal and Bhutan have not worked due to 'barriers' in Indian territory, The Daily Star quoted experts as saying.

But experts accept that Bangladesh's own infrastructure to reach out to the neighbours in the north and the east is poor and needs to be improved, the newspaper report said Sunday.

Bangladeshi business leaders and economists blame India for lack of economic interaction and wants the larger neighbour to 'change its mindset'.

The breakthroughs made in the past week at the India-Bangladesh foreign minister level talks on Bangladesh's connectivity with Nepal and Bhutan will not work if infrastructure constraints and non-tariff barriers in India are not removed, experts and businessmen told the newspaper.

If everything works properly, Bangladesh might be able to capture new markets in Nepal, Bhutan and northeast India and revive the Mongla Port, they said.

Dhaka has in the past offered its Chittagong and other river ports to the northern neighbours.

Economists said Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan are yet to boost trade among themselves, despite persistent agreements, mainly because of the barriers within Indian territory.

'We need to discuss the connectivity issue under a comprehensive framework involving Bhutan and Nepal,' said Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue.