Dhaka has accepted the proposal of New Delhi to export products to third countries via Indian seaports. As part of the plan, the government has taken the initiative for a feasibility study to use the Indian seaports. A high-powered delegation would visit India from 6-12 July to ensure the viability of technological and trade of goods transport.

Earlier on 20 December 2023, Bangladesh agreed to form a delegation at a meeting of the Shipping Ministry Secretary level.        

When contacted, Shipping Ministry joint secretary S M Mostafa Kamal said, “We would sit in the stakeholders of the ports. They would share information and data with us. We would scrutinize that information and data. After that, a report would be submitted to the government. That report would publish the pros and cons of the visit.”

Earlier in 2022, a joint statement was released during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s India visit on the first week of September. In the joint statement, India proposed Bangladesh a free transit facility to export products to third countries via Indian special land duty stations, airports and seaports. The Indian side invited Bangladeshi businesses to use Indian port infrastructures for transhipment to third countries. Mentioning that India is giving free transit to Bangladesh to export its products in Nepal and Bhutan, the statement reads Bangladesh has requested rail communication with Bhutan through the newly inaugurated Haldibari-Chilahati route and India has agreed to the request based on effectiveness and possibility.    

The joint statement also said to make this and other cross-border rail links viable, the Indian side requested the Bangladesh side to remove port restrictions, inter alia at the Haldibari-Chilahati crossing. Both the prime ministers agreed to develop bilateral and sub-regional connectivity efforts through viable the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement within a short time.

India has also requested Bangladesh to cooperate to construct a new sub-regional highway from Hili of West Bengal to Mahendraganj of Meghalaya via Bangladesh and proposed to submit a details project report in this regard. Bangladesh has reiterated its interest in becoming the partner of the ongoing India-Myanmar-Thailand tripartite highway project, said the joint statement.

Meanwhile, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has submitted an evaluation report to the Commerce Ministry after scrutinizing the transhipment proposal to export goods to third countries through India at the request of the Commerce Ministry. The report didn’t mention any positive findings about the facilities of Bangladesh through transhipment via India. However, the NBR supported the transhipment of trucks, rails and covered vans using Banglabandha, Burimari, and Sonahat Land Customs Station (LCS) and Chimari River Port.

@ The article was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on July 6, 2024 and has been rewritten in English by Golam Rosul.