Categories: World

Bangladesh offers Chittagong port to Assam and Tripura to boost trade with the region

<p>
<strong>Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina has proposed that India’s landlocked North East region can use the Chittagong port to enhance trade with the region. </strong></p>
<p>
India and Bangladesh are already eagerly looking forward to getting the connectivity between the two countries back to pre-Covid levels by resuming cross-border bus and railway services shortly after Eid.<br />
<br />
Hasina told visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Dhaka on Thursday that the connectivity between the two neighbouring countries can further be strengthened if the Indian states like Assam and Tripura have access to the Chittagong seaport.<br />
<br />
With two stretches of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route currently being developed with a budget of Rs 305 crore, the move, if implemented, would give a major push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Act East' policy, which seeks to the integrate the economies of the northeast with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).<br />
<br />
India has maintained for a long time now that developing the waterway connectivity is a further amplification of India's 'Act East' Policy which focuses on New Delhi's outreach towards its eastern maritime neighbours, especially the 10-nation ASEAN and island territories with a large Indian diaspora.</p>
<p>
<img alt="Bangladesh" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/jaishankar_dhaka.webp" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></p>
<p>
<em><strong>External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Thursday (Image courtesy: Twitter/@DrSJaishankar)</strong></em></p>
<p>
This includes promoting various initiatives like connecting the North East Region with Bangladesh, improving access to North East from Myanmar to facilitate tourism and cross border connectivity, promotion of Land Border Crossing Agreement and Integrated Check Post at Moreh and infrastructure projects like India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP) in Myanmar.<br />
<br />
At the same time, India has embarked on developing an 'Eastern Grid' inland waterway – a system of multi-modally interconnected waterways and coastal routes – to kick start regional integration in the South Asian Region (SAR) and to facilitate regional trade between South and East Asia.<br />
<br />
As reported by IndiaNarrative.com earlier, India and Bangladesh in particular are taking the lead in advancing policies and investments in developing potential inland waterways.</p>
<p>
<img height="1" src="file:///C:/Users/Dell/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif" width="1" />As the food grain movement continues to take place via National Waterway-1 (river Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra), the big move to steer economic resurgence of India's North East region by establishing the technical and commercial viability of the 2350 km long integrated Inland Water Transport (IWT) route has already begun.  <br />
<br />
The Pandu Ship repair facility being developed in Guwahati is expected to not only boost trade activity with the neighbouring countries but also open doors to the geostrategic Southeast Asian waters.</p>
<p>
<img alt="Bangladesh" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/pandumain.webp" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /><br />
<br />
Jaishankar highlighted in Dhaka on Thursday that trade, disbursement of loans on bilateral projects, travel services and investment are at new heights and that they have recovered the momentum which was lost during the Covid.<br />
<br />
"We, of course, hope to see early commissioning now of many projects including in the power and energy sector, in connectivity so that all that we have done in the last few years can be taken forward. India also looks forward to a stronger sub-regional cooperation in connectivity and other areas," said the EAM.  <br />
<br />
He emphasised that the energy sector, particularly the hydropower domain, offers opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between countries of the region.<br />
<br />
"India is a large producer and consumer of energy and we are very glad to work with our neighbours in that regard, including in the BBIN framework. And I want to say that India will continue to take the lead to structure progressive partnerships for production, transmission and trade in our region in this area," he added.<br />
<br />
<strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/india-news/india-s-act-east-policy-takes-wings-with-water-connectivity-with-neighbours-as-focus-65820.html">India's Act East policy takes wings with water connectivity with neighbours as focus </a></strong></p>

Ateet Sharma

Ateet Sharma reads the pulse of the geopolitical contests in Eurasia, and India’s outreach in the region and beyond.

Recent Posts

India’s retired judges, bureaucrats call for “immediate end” to attacks on minorities in open letter to Bangladesh

A group of retired judges, bureaucrats, Army officials and other civil society members have penned…

23 minutes ago

Israel, Slovakia sign historic USD 582 million deal to boost Air Defense capabilities

Israel and Slovakia signed a 2 billion shekel (USD 582 million) agreement on Monday to…

43 minutes ago

Pakistan: Protests continue in Kurram over road closures amid crisis

Protests against the prolonged road closures in Kurram persisted on Sunday, as residents held a…

2 hours ago

Sikyong Penpa Tsering successfully concludes key engagements in US, strengthening Tibetan cause

Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), has successfully concluded…

2 hours ago

World Uyghur Congress condemns Chinese sanctions against Uyghur, Tibetan organisations in Canada

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has strongly condemned the Chinese government's recent decision to impose…

2 hours ago

ISI-backed Khalistani terrorists neutralised in Pilibhit encounter: Punjab DGP

Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav on Monday confirmed that a joint operation by the Uttar Pradesh…

3 hours ago