India and Bangladesh Initial a Draft MoU on Passenger and Cruise Services on Coastal and Protocol Route
At the outset of the meeting Shri Rajive Kumar appreciated the good pace of the work executed so far and also expressed hope that the MoUs and Agreement signed will result into enhanced movement of vessels and cargo between India and Bangladesh smoothly. Mr. Shafique Alam Mehdi while appreciating the efforts of India for development of inland water transport and coastal shipping movements mentioned that this would ensure improved connectivity and promote trade and commerce between the two countries.
The
following decisions were taken in the meeting of the Secretary level delegation
of India and Bangladesh:
(i) Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) on passenger and cruise vessel movement
A
draft MoU on passenger and cruise services on coastal and protocol route was
initialed by the respective Secretaries of the two countries as a token of agreement which will be formalized after approval of the
respective Governments.
(ii) Payment
of transit fee
Bangladesh
side informed that a highly competitive charge of 192.22 BD Taka per metric
tonne for the transshipment operations at Ashuganj for movement of goods to and
from North-Eastern part of India has been approved by the Government of
Bangladesh. Indian side welcomed the steps taken by Bangladesh Government for
smooth movement on this route and agreed for the implementation of the same
with an option for a review of these rates if considered necessary in future.
(iii) Payment of Bank
Guarantee
As
a gesture of goodwill and considering the existing friendly relations between
the two countries, Bangladesh Government has decided to do away with the
practice of insistence upon Bank Guarantee on each consignment of transit
cargo. The Indian side welcomed this decision as this would reduce the transportation
cost and encourage cargo movement in this route.
(iv) Dredging on
rivers on Protocol routes with World Bank assistance
To
ensure adequate draft in upper reaches of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route in
Bangladesh, it was agreed that Bangladesh will submit a proposal for dredging
of rivers in Bangladesh, including the ones under Protocol route, to World Bank
for Regional IDA under intimation to the Indian side to enable the Indian side to
examine and support the proposal taking a long term perspective under PIWTT.
It
was also suggested by Indian side that as the submission of proposal to World
Bank under IDA and its eventual execution may take some time, the existing
Joint Technical Committee (JTC), as an interim measure, may identify and
prioritize the route requiring dredging to achieve 2.5 meter LAD throughout the
year and propose a suitable funding option within 3 (three) month time. It was
agreed that on receipt of this proposal, the funding, sharing and implementing mechanism
can be discussed and decided.
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