& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

India's Use of Bangladeshi Ports, Routes

Only local vessels, vehicles to be used

Say draft instructions prepared by officials of the two countries

Reiaul Karim Byron and Porimol Palma
Only local vessels or vehicles would be used for transporting Indian goods through Bangladesh, according to the draft standard operation procedure for India using Bangladeshi ports.
The standard operation procedure (SOP), expected to be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's India visit this week, would help boost Bangladesh's transport sector, shipping ministry officials said.
The draft SOP is designed to facilitate day-to-day movement of goods to and from India through Chattogram and Mongla ports and other authorised routes in Bangladesh.
Dhaka and New Delhi signed
an agreement in October last year allowing India to use Chattogram and Mongla ports to ferry cargo to its northeastern states. However, India has not started using the ports as the SOP had not been signed.
Officials at the shipping ministry said India wants to transport tea from Assam to other parts of India via Chattogram Port soon after signing of the SOP.
"India has been lobbying Bangladesh for many years to allow transport of Indian goods from its northeastern region to other parts of India or from other parts of India to the northeast," a ministry official told The Daily Star yesterday.
According to the draft, the two countries have fixed eight routes for transporting the Indian goods. An Inter-governmental Committee could approve more routes if need be.
Apart from various administrative, operational fees and other charges leviable, officials said fees may be applicable for use of riverways and highways as per the revised river protocol signed between Dhaka and Delhi in June 2015.
"The payment of fees and charges shall, to the extent practicable, allow the option of electronic payment," read the draft.
Under the revised river protocol for transhipment, India began transporting Indian goods to its northeastern region through Bangladesh in June 2016.
Indian goods are transported from Kolkata to Ashuganj. The goods are then loaded onto Bangladeshi trucks that take them to the Indo-Bangla border in Akhaura.
The transhipment fee for carrying goods is Tk 192.25 per tonne. Apart from the regular transit fees, India also pays other charges. If the Bangladesh side provides security for consignments, it costs the Indian side an additional Tk 50 for transport of a tonne of goods from Ashuganj to Akhaura, BIWTA officials said.
According to the draft SOP, the transit operation shall be completed in seven days from the day of entry.
The draft also details how inspection of the goods would be done.
The SOP would be applicable for all public authorities concerned, shipping
companies, cargo handling agencies, cargo movers, shippers, and vessels involved in the two countries.
According to shipping ministry officials, Bangladesh and India might also make some amendments to the revised river protocol and the coastal shipping agreement signed in 2017.
Under the coastal shipping agreement, Indian and Bangladeshi ships transport goods in their own territories.
Bangladeshi businesses have demanded that Bangladesh's local container ships are allowed to transport third country's goods from three Indian ports -- Visakhapatnam, Krishnapatnam, and Haldia.
They said Chittagong Port, the country's main port, was overwhelmed, which delays loading and unloading of goods.
Under the Coastal Shipping Agreement India may allow VO
Chidambaranar and Kamarajar ports in Tamil Nadu for the Bangladeshi ships, shipping ministry officials said after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Prime Minister's Office last month.
Shipping businesses in Bangladesh said it would be more convenient for them if they could use Pangaon Port in Narayanganj and Indian ports for exports and imports of commodities to and from other countries.
The two countries may also discuss establishing joint venture ship building company during the meeting between Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
The meeting at the PMO chaired by PM's Economic Adviser Mashiur Rahman concluded that Bangladesh now constructs medium-sized vessels but foreign ship builders have moved to large sea-going vessels. It stressed on drawing investments from India for Bangladeshi ship building industry.