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Dhaka-Delhi ports deal next week

India to use Ctg, Mongla ports to transport cargo to its northeastern states

Rejaul Karim Byron
Dhaka and New Delhi are going to sign next week three important agreements, including one allowing India to use Chittagong and Mongla ports to transport cargoes to its north-eastern states.
The deals related to shipping will be inked at a secretary-level meeting in New Delhi from October 24 to 26.
A14-member team led by Shipping Secretary Abdus Samad will fly to the Indian capital on October 23. Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan may join the deal-signing ceremony, shipping ministry officials told this newspaper yesterday.
The agreement on the use of the two ports will be valid for five years and be renewed automatically for another five years. Any of the two sides can cancel or suspend it on six months' notice.
If any problem arises regarding the deal's implementation, both countries will form committees to resolve it, they said.
As per the draft of the deal, Indian goods can be transported through four entry points: Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala in India; Tamabil in Sylhet and Dauki in Meghalaya; Sheola in Sylhet and Sutarkandi in Assam; and Bibirbazar in Cumilla and Srimantapur in Tripura.
Shipping Secretary Md Abdus Samad said Dhaka and Delhi have to sign
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Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the deal to take effect.
"The two countries have started preparing the SOP," he added.
Earlier at a press meet on October 7, the shipping secretary said the fees and other charges would be mentioned in the SOP.
India will have to use local transports for transporting goods through Bangladesh territory.
Chittagong and Mongla ports will not face any problems in handling Indian goods as their capacities have increased greatly, he added.
The cabinet on September 17 approved a draft agreement on the use of the two ports.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the use of the two ports during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in [une2015.
In the upcoming secretary-level meeting, another agreement will be signed to allow passengers to travel between the two countries by cruise ships.
The two sides will sign an SOP for introducing the cruise service, said a shipping ministry official wishing
anonymity.
An MoU in this regard was signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's India visit in April last year.
The shipping secretary said tourists and passengers from Bangladesh will be able to travel to Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Chennai by cruise ships, while Indian tourists and passengers could cruise to Mongla, Dhaka, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar.
The cruise service will be run by private companies, which will decide on the fares and other related issues.
Seeking anonymity, one of the shipping ministry officials said the SOP will determine the routes and the levies to be slapped by the two countries.
Besides, a deal will be signed to bring changes to the existing "Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWT&T)" for determining two new ports of call in India and Bangladesh.
The new port of call in India will be Assam's Dhubri while one of the three ports in Pangaon, Nagarbari and Sirajganj is likely to be chosen as the new port of call in Bangladesh, said the shipping secretary.