Bangladesh News Bangladesh - India Relation

Nilgiri

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India's Tata Steel has executed a blockchain-enabled paperless export order with a major steel-based company in Bangladesh, making this the first such deal executed between an Indian company and counterparty in Bangladesh.

The transaction was facilitated by Standard Chartered India and was conducted on Contour's blockchain trade platform on Wednesday, reports Livemint.

It will enable banks, corporates, and other trade partners across the world to transact with each other.

According to Tata Steel, the seamless transmission of LC and e-presentation of document between the two different banks at both ends via the platform under three hours is a testament to reduced paperwork and time and increased operational efficiency brought about by this solution.

Tata Steel Vice-president (flat products) Rajeev Singhal said, "We are glad and more confident now that we have executed the first multi-bank blockchain-enabled trade. The technology along with the pivoting efforts of Tata Steel provides efficiency and agility in enabling a better customer interface."

The integrated solution using blockchain technology allows all parties involved in the transaction to communicate on a single platform in real-time.

"It aims to reduce processing time by digitising the entire LC process and eliminating the operational inefficiencies as compared to traditional paper-intensive process of LCs. Further, this technology also enhances the safety of transactions. The information can be shared only with other authorised members on the network and is immutable, reducing the risk of data manipulation and fraud while increasing transparency for all parties involved in the transaction," said a press release from Tata Steel.


Excellent, BBIN should keep expanding in such areas.
 

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Stressing the need for enhancing connectivity between Bangladesh and India to boost bilateral trade and commerce, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the rail communication on Akhaura-Agartala route should be reopened.

The prime minister said this while Indian High Commissioner Vikram Kumar Doraiswami called on her at her official Gono Bhaban residence.

"We have to enhance the connectivity. Everything (required establishment) of Akhaura-Agartala rail route remains there. It just needs to reopen," she said.

Trade and communication will be fostered as connectivity increases between the neighbouring countries, she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the relations between Bangladesh and India has reached a new height.

She said significant progress has taken place in trade, business and tourism sectors between the countries.

Doraiswami informed the premier that Indian president will visit Bangladesh to join the Victory Day celebration marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence.

Doraiswami also said, "This is a special year and it has a great significance that Indian president and prime minister is visiting Bangladesh in the same year."

The envoy said they will showcase the relations of Bangladesh and India to demonstrate a good framework of their connection.

He said officials of the countries are currently working to finalise the tour of Indian president.

About Covid-19, the prime minister said that both countries have to remain cautious to tackle the deadly virus.

The Indian high commissioner thanked the Bangladesh premier for helping his country by providing medical equipment during the tough time in fighting Covid-19.

He handed over a very rare photograph of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman taken in 1972.

He also handed over a pen drive comprising some audios and videos alongside some newspaper clippings.

The premier recalled dark days under the Pakistani occupation forces in December 1971.

But when India recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign independent country it was a great message for them, she said.

Ambassador at Large Md Ziauddin, PM's Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus and Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh Binoy George were present.

 

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India will supply 20% more power to Bangladesh as the two countries renewed the contract for another five years, Indian officials said on Sunday.

Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) will supply 192 mw power to Bangladesh, an increase from the earlier 160 mw it supplied, as per the renewed agreement, reports The Indian Business Standard.

India and Bangladesh inked an agreement on 11 January, 2010 for power trading at a mutually agreed price. The agreement had expired on March 16, 2021, officials said.

TSECL MD MS Kele and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd CEO Praveen Saxena represented India and signed the renewal agreement in Dhaka on 2 December.

Bangladesh was represented by its Power Secretary and Director of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

The new agreement came into effect from 17 March, 2021 and would be in force till 16 March, 2026, officials said.

The modified terms and conditions of the agreement were finalised after four meetings between the stakeholders, they said.


 

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Bangladesh is going to launch the largest single-country visa application centre in Kolkata to attract more travellers from the eastern states of India, said reports in Indian media.

The new initiative will greatly benefit travellers from the eastern region of India and help boost regional tourism, said the stakeholders.

Around 80% of inbound visitors in Bangladesh come from India, said Dr Jabed Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Bangladesh Tourism Board.

"We have a demand to open such visa application centres in neighbouring Indian states. Setting up such centres will help to fulfil our target," he added.

Requesting anonymity, an official of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata told TBS, "We do not have any official declaration from foreign ministry on the issue. So, we will not make any comments right now."

Several Indian newspapers reported that the brand new, state of the art visa application centre has 10 counters for accepting all categories of visas for Bangladesh, including investor, intern, tourist, diplomatic, research student, NGO, government delegate, journalist, business, employment and work permit, tourist and family.

"The new visa application centre, which is spread over 13,000 sq ft is the largest single country visa application facility in Salt Lake, Kolkata, will ensure applicants a seamless experience in acquiring their visas to travel to Bangladesh. The processing fee for all categories of visas is Rs826, including GST per application and no additional visa fee is applicable for Indians applying for the visas to Bangladesh," reported The Print on Tuesday.

The new visa application centre will ensure an enhanced applicant-friendly experience compared to the earlier system under which tourists had to submit their applications and documents directly at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission that had only three counters, reported The Print.

It was not uncommon to see long queues on the street outside the Deputy High Commission premises, with people sometimes waiting all night to ensure a place in the queue.

Also, brokers and agents used to charge as much as 12,500 rupees for a visa fee which will now be reduced to only 826 rupees.

Masud Hossain, an inbound tour operator, said, "More centres should be opened for tourists from Meghalaya, Guwahati, Assam, and Shillong."

In 2018, an integrated Indian Visa Application Centre was launched at the Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka to ease the visa process for India-bound Bangladeshi tourists.


Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said Bangladesh-India can be benefited by generating hydropower in Nepal and Bhutan as it will be clean energy and cheaper also.

"Both the countries could be benefitted from the hydropower generation in Nepal and Bhutan," she said while visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla paid a courtesy call on her at her official residence Ganabhaban this morning.

Prime Minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the call on.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla said some small issues across the border between Bangladesh and India can be settled down through holding meetings between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF).

"Bangladesh and India have settled down all major issues while some small issues along the border between the two countries can be solved through holding meetings between BGB and BSF," he said, adding, "We want that this issue will be resolved."

The Prime Minister also agreed on it, said the Press Secretary.

The Indian Foreign Secretary said normalcy is coming back to India after recovering from the setback of COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that all are cautious about Omicron variant of the COVID-19 as some 21 cases have been detected so far in India.

He also mentioned that COVID-19 has been mutated 15 times before transforming into the Omicron variant.

Shringla said the variant has been detected in many countries in Europe apart from the African countries.

He conveyed greetings of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Bangladesh Prime Minister and she also greeted her Indian counterpart through the Indian Foreign Secretary.

Shringla appreciated the economic progress of Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic and said that there is good growth in India also.

He thanked her for inviting Indian President Ram Nath Kovind in the 50th Victory Day celebration programme and termed it as a "special bond of friendship".

"Too much progress has been made under the leadership of both Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh," he said.

The Foreign Secretary also said India will observe the commemoration of the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation, Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence and 50th anniversary of the establishment of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relation across the globe in their missions and will project Bangabandhu among the local people of the respective countries.

Shringla is expected to hold a joint photo exhibition on Bangabandhu by India and Bangladesh at the United Nations after the COVID-19 situation is improved.

He also talked about the cooperation in the IT sector and wanted to share new technologies in the IT sector.

He said that India wanted to invest in renewable energy in Bangladesh.

The Foreign Secretary also put emphasis on reestablishing Shiliguri-Parbotipur, Dhaka-Shiliguri and Dhaka-Jolpaiguri railway communication.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh is also going towards normalcy gradually covering up the setback from COVID-19 pandemic.

She recalled the days of her captivity with other family members during the liberation war and mentioned that Indian recognition has overwhelmed them.

She also mentioned that in Bangladesh 99% of people are under electricity coverage. "The government is providing solar energy where there is no grid line," she said.

The meeting was attended by Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami and Policy Adviser in the Ministry of External Affair Ashok Malik from the Indian side while Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus from Bangladesh side.

 

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Highlights:
  • Bangladesh has 9 rail interchange points with India, 5 are operational
  • Both countries keen to take advantage of low-cost and secure export opportunities by railways
  • Imports by rail increase amid pandemic
  • Indian importers less interested in using rail freight because of non-availability of importable goods

Container train service between Bangladesh and India started gaining ground during the pandemic, prompting the government to look for ways to reactivate the cross-border railway links to facilitate bilateral trade as well as connect two other neighbours – Bhutan and Nepal.

As part of this, the Ministry of Commerce has had a report prepared by the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, on the current situation of the existing nine interchange railway points with India

According to the report, goods are regularly imported from India on four out of the five currently active interchange routes, but the freight trains from India go back empty.

If storage yards with customs control facilities are constructed in the Bangladesh part of these interchange points, Bangladesh will be able to export products to India by rail. Besides, it is possible to build a strong transit system by connecting Chattogram and Mongla seaports with Nepal and Bhutan using the interchanges, the report further states.

With the construction of a dedicated railway bridge across the River Jamuna, parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Bridge, freight trains will be able to operate directly from Dhaka and Chattogram to India. Then import-export by rail is expected to increase further, expect officials at the commerce ministry.

The five operational interchange railway points between Bangladesh and India are at Darshana (Bangladesh)-Gede (India), Benapole (Bangladesh)-Petrapole (India), Rohanpur (Bangladesh)-Singhabad (India), Birol (Bangladesh)-Radhikapur (India), and Chilahati (BD) Haldibari (India).

Among them, Darshana-Gede is identified as Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) Route-1, while Rohanpur-Singabad as TAR Route-2.

As part of the two countries' continuous efforts to improve railway connectivity and boost bilateral trade, the Akhaura-Agartala railway link project is being implemented. The two countries are now working on formulating a development project proposal for establishing Panchagarh-Siliguri rail link after the completion of the feasibility study.

The two countries are also planning to reopen the Burimari-Chengrabandha, Mogolhat-Gitaldaha and Feni-Belonia rail interchanges.

Imports by rail get momentum, exports remain zero

Although Bangladesh's roughly $10 billion annual imports from India are predominantly delivered by trucks, rail freight started getting momentum during the pandemic.

Of the five rail routes operational now, the Darshana point accounts for the highest amount of shipment of goods imported by rail freights, followed by Benapole.

In its report sent to the commerce ministry on 6 December this year, the deputy high commission said 53 lakh tonnes of Indian goods worth around Tk4,000 crore had been imported through Darshana-Gede and Benapole-Petrapole interchanges in Chuadanga in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Besides, a significant amount of goods – 1.5 rakes – is imported from India every day through the Rohanpur-Singabad and Biral-Radhikapur interchanges.

In FY20, 1.84 lakh tonnes of goods were imported from India through Benapole rail route, which increased to 5.40 lakh tonnes in the following year amid the pandemic, says the deputy high commission.

But containers return to India empty, even though Bangladesh's overall exports to India have crossed $1billion. Trade facilitators and officials say Indian traders are less interested in using rail freight due to non-availability of importable goods.

SM Sarafat Hossain, assistant commissioner of Darshana customs station in Chuadanga, said at one time, molasses used to be exported India in freight wagons from Bangladesh but the item has not been exported since 2010.

Mir Md Liaquat Hossain, superintendent of Darshana International Railway Station, said stones, wheat, maize and rice regularly come to Bangladesh from India by freight wagons but Indian traders are not interested as there are no goods to go to India by freight wagons from Bangladesh.


The Darshana customs station earned about Tk50 crore in the first five months of the current financial year. Revenue has started to increase in line with an increase in import of goods following the pandemic.

Efforts on to unlock potential

Commerce ministry officials told The Business Standard that one of the aims of the government is to increase export opportunities by rail to increase competitiveness.

Both countries are keen to take advantage of low-cost and secure export opportunities by railways. In addition, closed routes need to be revived for building the Trans-Asian Railway network.

The commerce secretary-level meeting slated for the second week of January in New Delhi will discuss ways to increase imports and exports using the railway. But, it is the Ministry of Railways that will finalise everything about the launch of freight trains.

At a secretary-level meeting in Dhaka last March, Bangladesh proposed to export goods on the Darshana-Gede rail route.

An official at the commerce ministry said they would write a letter to the railways ministry to construct storage yards at the interchange points as per the recommendations of the deputy high commission.

The commerce ministry has been planning for three years to export goods to India using the Darshan-Gede rail route, he said, adding the National Board of Revenue formed a committee in 2018 to identify the infrastructure required for export through this port and the committee has sent recommendations to the railways ministry for construction of storage yards with customs control.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told TBS that steps have been taken to increase import-export of goods with India and boost trade of goods with Nepal and Bhutan using railways.

He said the government is also trying to find out how Bangladesh can benefit economically through regional connectivity using these routes.


Asked if the railway ministry has taken any initiative to build necessary infrastructure, including storage yards, to increase imports and exports of goods through the interchange points with India, Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan declined to comment.

Md Shahiduzzaman, station master of Benapole railway station, said at present goods are imported from India through Benapole port as well as by land. However, as there is no railway yard in the port, storing goods has become problematic.

He, however, said the authorities have taken initiatives to address the issue.

"Construction work on two railway yards at the port has already started. Work is underway to extend the broad gauge line from Benapole to Petrapole. Once these projects are completed, trade will increase further. Export can start if exporters want."

Traders favour rail freights

In July 2020, Bangladesh and India launched a new cargo train route, more than two years after a trial run was made.

A container train takes three-and-a-half hours to reach Benapole from Kolkata, while a truck has to wait for 12 hours or more to cross the border.

Bangladeshi traders also are interested in exporting and importing goods by rail instead of trucks.

At present, knitwear manufacturers can only import yarn through the Benapole-Petrapole rail route. They have written to the NBR seeking permission to import through other interchanges including Darshana, said Md Hatem, senior vice-president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).

Aminul Haque, vice-president of the import-export association at Benapole Port, told TBS that Bangladeshi traders were held hostage by Indian truck parking syndicate on the Bongaon-Kolkata route in export-import by road. "They [the syndicate] used to collect Tk10,000-15,000 per truck in the name of giving schedules to run by creating various obstacles. Their oppression aggravated at the beginning of the Covid outbreak, which caused import costs to go up, affecting the domestic market. In view of this, the government has allowed the import and trade of all types of goods by rail since June 4 last year."

Day by day traders have become more inclined to transporting goods by railways as it is cost-effective and secure, he said, adding earlier, goods were imported in 4 to 5 wagons per month but now different types of goods are being imported daily through cargo rails, and parcel vans. As a result, the government also is getting more revenue.

"But we want to see exports by railways. Both the business community and the government need to come forward to this end."

Mofizur Rahman Sajan, president of Benapole C&F Agents Association, said Bangladeshi traders, who had been held hostage by the illegal Indian truck parking syndicates for almost two decades, are now almost free of their clutches. They now import all kinds of products by rail. If exports start this way, they will benefit.


Benapole Customs Commissioner Md Azizur Rahman said the beginning of imports from India through container trains has opened up a new scope for the expansion of bilateral trade, which is saving time and reducing costs as well as increasing security.

If goods come from India through land ports as well as by rail, the country's railway sector will also develop, he also said, adding, "We are also considering exporting goods to India by rail."

 

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The Indian government has decided to double the 10 Gbps internet bandwidth from Cox's Bazar in the coming weeks with the aim to boost internet connectivity in India's North-Eastern states.

"Two to three months back, thinking out of the box, we took an experimental connection of 10 GBPS fibre connectivity from Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) to Agartala. In two months, it stabilised," Indian's Minister for Information and Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday (5 January) reports the Live Mint.

Vaishnaw added: "Yesterday (Tuesday, 4 January) we took a decision to increase this bandwidth so that the entire Northeastern region especially Manipur can get high-speed connectivity."

"Based on that experiment, in the next five to six weeks, we will double the bandwidth. We will see the results and then will further double the bandwidth," he further said.

 

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Top Bangladeshi private power company Summit has acquired around one fourth of a power project of an Indian power company in Tripura, marking the first footprint of any Bangladeshi company on investing in a foreign power venture.

Summit bagged 23.5% of the ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) in July last year committing to invest about US$50 million in its 750mw gas fired power plant in Tripura. Summit is now awaiting approval of the central government.

"I think this would be the first purchase by any Bangladeshi-owned company investing in a power plant abroad," said Chairman of Summit Group Muhammed Aziz Khan, adding that he expected the shares would be transferred to his company Summit India (Tripura) in a month or two.

This is the very power plant that Bangladesh had helped OTPC build a decade back by allowing transshipment of its heavy equipment through Bangladesh. Now this company is set to build another 350-megawatt power plant from gas, transmission assets and renewable potentials.

Summit is also in talks with another company over a deal to invest, purchase and import renewable energy to Bangladesh from India at a competitive rate. These cross border renewable deals are backed by The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and are part of policies of the two governments.

The company that now has a huge stake in Bangladesh's energy industry is also trying to secure a Liquefied Natural gas (LNG) deal with an American company on a long-term basis at a reasonably low cost.


Aziz Khan, in conversation with The Business Standard, also reflected on how his home-grown infrastructure company of the nineties was becoming a multinational entity.

The company moved its headquarters to Singapore six-seven years back with a view to expand its activities beyond Bangladesh, which still remains its business hotspot and where Summit plans to invest another $3 billion by 2025. Moving to Singapore has made it easier for Summit to get finances, he said.

In 2017, Summit won a bid in India to develop a port in Kolkata. It bagged another deal recently to run another port in Patna -- which is now under construction.

"For the last four years, we have been operating the Kolkata port that we implemented under the build-own-operate-transfer model by winning a tender from the Inland Waterways Authorities of India,'' said the Summit Group chairman.

"I think that nobody [in Bangladesh] has invested in ports or infrastructure abroad before," said Khan.

Summit has 20 power plants in Bangladesh with a capacity to generate 1,942MW electricity—representing around 8% of the country's total power generation capacity -- and another 600 mw under construction.

The infrastructure conglomerate also has a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for supplying 500mmcf LNG per day.

Summit shifts to Singapore to broaden the horizon

"We have shifted our head office to Singapore to broaden the horizon from containment to go to India and other sub continental countries," Aziz Khan said.

Khan said that implementing a power plant in Bangladesh is a very difficult task because of the high interest of capital and lack of funding.

He said that the Summit Group has so far invested $2.5billion in Bangladesh.

"For implementing a project, you need to have 30% capital and 70% debt. But I did not have that money. So, I had to take a loan," he said.

"From that calculation, I had to manage around $900million. But you didn't hear that I defrauded any banks or people. So, I had to get this capital. Then, I had to manage a $2.1 billion loan, and there is no allegation that I'm not repaying the loan either," Khan added.

"It was possible due to the low cost of capital. We took a $350 million loan from Standard Chartered Bank at 3.5% fixed interest against the Switzerland state bank's guarantee.

"But implementation of large projects would not be possible by paying 10-12% interest rate to the local financiers. The private sector does not get the opportunity to obtain loans at an interest rate of 1% like the government," he said.

"Being a private sector company, we get a loan at 3.5% and our average interest rate is 4.5% against the current $800million loan. And 80% of this loan book is from foreign companies or lenders," he said.

Khan said others are not getting the commercial loan because of their own company's governance and the credit rating of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's credit rating is also a reason behind the shift of the head office to Singapore, said the Summit Group chairman. "Cost of the fund depends on the credit rating. If you want big spending, you need to go to a big market and Singapore is a big market," he said.

Bangladesh's credit rating is still BB minus (BB-), while Singapore is a triple-A or double-A rating country.

"So, we get double-A if we do the credit rating in Singapore, but if we do it here in Bangladesh, we won't be able to get it above BB minus," he said.

Another reason for the shift to Singapore was to hire skilled manpower for large projects, said Aziz Khan.

"Getting management is very tough here in Bangladesh because nobody has done big business. You cannot find someone who has done a 580MW power plant implementation, but that is available all over the world," he added.

Summit invests with American company for long term LNG solution

Summit Group, the trailblazer in the power and energy sector in Bangladesh, is now eying a long term LNG solution.

Talking about the new horizon of the business, Aziz Khan, said, "We are now discussing investment in LNG liquefaction and transportation processes with American companies. If we are successful, we will be able to supply LNG at a lower price."

"Recently, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Commonwealth LNG to collaborate in the supply of LNG to Asia, including Bangladesh," he said.

The scope of the MoU includes contracting for 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG offtake, for a term of up to 20 years, from Commonwealth's 8.4 MTPA facility currently under development in Cameron, Louisiana.

Building the third FSRU of the country

Summit Group is also looking to establish its second and the country's third FSRU at Moheshkhali coast to regasify another 500 MMCF LNG.

In this regard, Aziz Khan said, "We have applied for the second FSRU and we have heard that it has been positively taken by the government.

"Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL), the state-run company responsible for LNG operation, is going to call us for negotiation," he added.

The Summit Group chairman also said that this was not by their persuasion, but the country needed it and Petrobangla understood that.

Petrobangla wanted to build an on-shore terminal but they could not acquire the land for it yet, he said.

"Even if they get the land, it will take time to develop the land and they have to dig at an 18-metre depth for storage, but the country does not have that time," Khan further added.

The capacity of the new FSRU will be 170,000 cubic metres, which would be 30% higher than the existing one.

Will LNG remain affordable?

Currently, the country has a demand for around 3500mmcf to 4000mmcf of gas per day, whereas it gets only 2500mmcf from local gas fields, so a gap remains there.

The margin of the demand gap will be bigger once the 100 economic zones, undertaken by the government, come into operation.

"And as the reserve of natural gas deflates gradually, the demand-supply gap of gas has to be fulfilled by LNG," said Khan.

The next infrastructure necessary for Bangladesh is how to bring LNG and how to continue to supply the most needed energy for the continuous and sustainable development of Bangladesh, he added.

But in the last one year LNG price was wildly volatile and went up to $36 per MMBtu.

Talking about affordability, Khan said, "To get the lower price, we have to go to a long term contract, instead of spot purchase."

Khan also said that his new FSRU would be able to provide LNG at cheaper rates than the existing ones. And it is possible if one invests in liquefaction and transportation of LNG, he said.

 

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Indian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Vikram K Doraiswami, says his country wants to improve trade and investment relations with Bangladesh in the areas of logistics, food processing, automobiles and garments.

For this, Doraiswami sought cooperation from the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) to increase trade, during a visit with its President, Md Jashim Uddin, at the latter's office in the capital on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the FBCCI President called for the development of infrastructure on the Indian side of the land ports to increase bilateral trade.

"Poor infrastructure hampers bilateral trade as many products cannot be exported from Bangladesh due to lack of facilities at Indian ports," he said.

Md Jashim Uddin said the apex trade body is working on submitting a 12-year plan to the government for the development of logistics.

The Indian Ambassador said another new gate will soon be opened at Petrapole land port to facilitate the movement of trucks.

Development work for other land ports will be undertaken if these ports are permitted to trade more goods, he assured.

"Our government is keen to facilitate trade between the two countries and the issue will be given importance at a secretary level meeting next February," Doraiswami said.

Bangladesh-India trade has increased 94% in the last one year. At the end of the current financial year, Bangladesh's exports to India are expected to reach $2 billion for the first time.

Doraiswami also hoped to launch a CEO forum between the two countries.

The forum of chief executives of top India-Bangladesh companies could play a most effective role in resolving issues of bilateral trade, he said.

Regarding India's trade potential with Bangladesh, the FBCCI President said India could be a major supplier of yarn and cotton to the garment industry in the near future.

FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Vice President Md Habib Ullah Dawn, directors Rejaul Kariem Rejnu, Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, Md Shah Jalal, Mohammed Bazlur Rahman, Dr Joshodha Jibon Deb Nath, CIP, Priti Chakraborty, and Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque were present at the meeting.

 

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India raised the issue of 1971 genocide carried out by Pakistani army during Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and sought justice.

Participating in the first UNSC open debate this year on "Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: Wars in Cities – Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings" on 25 January, India's permanent envoy to the UN TS Tirumurti slammed state actors for backing terrorism, according to The Economic Times.

"India has been seeking justice for 1971 genocide committed by the Pakistan Army in erstwhile East Pakistan that killed nearly three million people. Despite several attempts by Bangladesh, Pakistan Army officers have not yet been tried by the international court," said Tirumurti.

He said there are other countries as well which are still reeling from military actions carried out in the past either without due consideration for protecting civilian population, or through deliberate targeting of civilians amounting to genocide as was done in the erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971, now Bangladesh.

Tirumurti reminded the UNSC about the dastardly terrorist attacks carried out in Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 civilians of over 15 nationalities.

"Having suffered the scourge of cross-border terrorism for decades, India has always been at the forefront of global counter-terrorism efforts," he said.

Reaffirming India's commitment to non-interference in the internal affairs of states, Tirumurti said that armed conflicts must be resolved via political and diplomatic efforts, in line with international law and principles of the UN Charter.

 

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Despite a 2017 prime minister-level go-ahead, at least half a dozen development works within 150 yards of the Indo-Bangla border zero line hit the brakes thanks to objections by the Indian Border Security Force, according to Bangladesh authorities.

The infrastructures include development of four land ports in north and south-eastern swathe of Bangladesh, Feni River embankment protection project, and upgradation of Akhaura-Laksam railroads.

India too has nearly 30 border-side projects pending clearance as repeated bilateral talks could not untangle those, according to the High Commission of India in Dhaka.

Though a standard operating procedure (SOP) drafted by Delhi in late 2021 shows a way to unblock land port works, the SOP does not mention other infrastructures by the border – which led an inter-ministerial meeting on 26 January to express concern over project cost and time escalation.

According to the meeting minutes, the foreign ministry sought a complete list of such projects stalled due to objections by the Border Security Force (BSF) of India. The Bangladesh foreign ministry has convened a follow-up meeting on Tuesday.

Mashfee Binte Shams, secretary (east) ambassador at the foreign ministry, told the 26 January meeting that the ministry could talk to its counterpart in February in this regard.

The Indo-Bangladesh Boundary Agreement 1974 restricts any construction within 150 yards of the zero line. But Dhaka and Delhi have been constructing structures at numerous border points for the past ten years to address the growing needs of both the neighbours.

Delhi sent its draft SOP to Dhaka in November last year, while the Indian High Commission to Bangladesh sent a note verbale to the foreign ministry on 8 November last year.

In the note verbale, Delhi said both the countries will share details of the land customs offices, integrated check-posts and land ports. If the border forces notice any adverse development in those areas, they may inform the higher authorities for further decisions instead of blocking the work on ground.

When contacted, India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami said a bilateral inter-ministerial meeting is slated for 22 February in New Delhi to jointly address the pending border-side infrastructure issues.

According to sources who joined the inter-ministerial meeting, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) sits with its counterpart, the BSF, if any border-area project faces BSF objections. BSF field-level officers usually say they do not have any instruction from their superior to allow construction within 150 yards of the zero line. But when Indian higher authorities are contacted they claim that the field BSF officials had already been briefed – leading the issues to remain unsettled.

Embankment work stalled since 2017

The Joint Rivers Commission, Bangladesh said a project to protect the bank of the common River Feni has been stalled at 18 points since 2017 in the wake of objections from the BSF. Despite repeated attempts by Dhaka, the Indian authorities are not withdrawing the objections.

Besides, the BSF has objected to Bangladesh's work at a point of the River Kushiyara.

In 2019, Dhaka and Delhi signed a water-sharing deal for the River Feni, allowing India to withdraw 1.82 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the river.

Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman, member of the Joint Rivers Commission, Bangladesh, told The Business Standard that they contacted Indian authorities, seeking withdrawal of the BSF's objections on the River Feni issue. Besides, measures have been taken to settle the issue through secretary-level talks.

He said the BSF withdrew its objection at several points of the River Kushiyara, but still opposes Bangladesh's establishment at one point.

BSF objection set to make rail project pricier

Railway officials said construction of the Kasba rail station and a rail bridge over the River Salna under the Akhaura-Laksam railroad project has been stalled for eight months due to BSF objections. But the railway infrastructures have been in the area since 1890 and Bangladesh is only upgrading the existing rail link.

Bangladesh shared the project details funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with India even before finalising it.

Shahidul Islam, director of the project, told The Business Standard on Saturday that work of the project has been postponed at two points.

Project officials said both the loan term and project cost will go up if India does not walk back on the decision.

At the inter-ministerial meeting, Bangladesh Land Port Authority Chairman Md Alamgir said BSF objection got in the way of constructing Belonia, Ramgarh, Sheola and Balla land ports.

He said the authorities will soon start development work of Bhomra, Burimari and Sonahat land ports with funding from the World Bank and the ADB.

People and trades bear the brunt: Doraiswami

Referring to nearly 30 Indian projects in areas within 150 yards of the zero line, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami told TBS that the pending clearances have an adverse effect on facilitating trade.

He said the pending projects – some pending for more than five years – include buildings for integrated check posts, trade infrastructure, border roads, culverts, embankments on rivers, and even flagpole bases.

"In most of these projects, land has been acquired and budgetary allocations have been unspent year after year, leading to increased cost and unfinished projects," Vikram Doraiswami told TBS.

While citing examples of such projects by India, he mentioned an integrated development complex at Manughat and several similar projects at Muhurighat, Agartala, Srimantapur and Dawki in the neighbouring country.

"The time and cost overruns in the projects have caused immense hardship to citizens on both sides," noted the High Commissioner.

The Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh said, "It is precisely because the process of asking border guarding forces to clear all proposals for infrastructure work within 150 yards of the zero line has not been yielding results for the past several years that India has proposed a bilateral inter-ministerial mechanism to jointly address all pending issues for border infrastructure that are on the table.

"We had hoped to host this meeting in January itself, but the third wave of the pandemic delayed that. This meeting is now scheduled for 22 February 2022 in New Delhi."

Doraiswami said Delhi approaches the upcoming meeting with "a constructive perspective", and the issues must be cleared with "an open, cooperative and problem-solving approach".


Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland announced it would supply 200 trucks to the Bangladesh government as a part of $2-billion line of credit announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ashok Leyland had won the tender floated by Bangladesh government for 135 numbers fully built trucks comprising 3T truck, hydraulic beam lifter and sewerage sucker. These trucks have already been handed over to Roads and Highways Department in the current fiscal, it said in a statement.

In addition, the Bangladesh government had awarded orders for another lot of 65 units of truck mounted wrecker, a specialised vehicle to be deployed for various highway applications.

Amandeep Singh, Head – International Operation said, “Bangladesh is one of our key export markets and this supply further strengthens our position in the country. Exports have been a strong focus for us to de-risk from cyclicality in the Indian market, and this is a significant step in that direction.”

 

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The Indian has agreed to fund 80% of the total cost for dredging work in river Meghna on Bangladesh side, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said.

Of the 90-km stretch from Sonamura in Tripura's Sepahijala district to Daudkandi in Bangladesh, around 40-km river bed is needed to be dredged in order to increase the water level. Once complete, it will operationalise the Indo-Bangla waterway connecting river Gomati, reports the Economic Times.

"The Central government is ready to bear 80% of total cost for dredging work on the Bangladesh side while the remaining part will have to be incurred by the host country", Biplab Kumar Deb told reporters after meeting with India's Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonawal on Tuesday (15 February).

India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways will undertake a hydrographic survey in two more rivers - Howrah and Deo, CM Deb said.



India is ready to supply locomotives and passenger carriages and transfer technology for railway signalling systems to Bangladesh as part of ongoing cooperation between the two sides to improve connectivity.

The matter figured when Bangladesh high commissioner Muhammad Imran met railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday and discussed various issues related to the railways sector, including the development of infrastructure and improvement of capacity of Bangladesh Railways.

Imran also briefed the minister about the upgrade of the Dhaka-Chattogram railway link, especially the Akhaura-Laksam section, and sought India's support in this regard, according to a statement from the Bangladesh high commission.

The Indian side expressed its readiness to "supply locomotives, diesel-electric multiple units (DEMU) train, mainline-electric multiple unit (MEMU) train as well as passenger carriages and transfer of technology for railway signalling system to Bangladesh", the statement said.

The Bangladeshi envoy also met minister Raj Kumar Singh and discussed various aspects of bilateral cooperation in the power and new and renewable energy sector.

Imran sought the Indian minister's support for trilateral cooperation in hydropower energy among Bangladesh, Bhutan and India. They also discussed the commissioning of the Maitree super thermal power project at Rampal and trans-national power connectivity.

The Maitree project is a 1,320-MW coal-fired power station being built at Rampal by the Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), a 50-50 joint venture between India's state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). The construction of the plant began in 2017 and it is set to be commissioned this year. It will be one of the largest coal-fired power plants in Bangladesh.

In August last year, India and Bangladesh resumed the operation of freight trains on the restored Haldibari-Chilahati route, giving a boost to rail connectivity between the two sides. The route was snapped during the war between India and Pakistan in 1965, when Bangladesh was East Pakistan.

India and Bangladesh are currently working to restore seven rail links that were operational till 1965, and five have already been made operational. India provided 10 diesel locomotives to Bangladesh as grant assistance in 2020.



Bangladesh has sought Indian support regarding trilateral cooperation in hydropower among Bangladesh, Bhutan and India.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Muhammad Imran on Tuesday met Indian Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh at the latter's office and discussed the issue.

They also discussed various aspects of bilateral cooperation in the power, new and renewable energy sector between Bangladesh and India, during the meeting.

The two sides discussed the commissioning of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project at Rampal and transnational power connectivity, according to Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

Earlier, the high commissioner met Minister for Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology of India Ashwini Vaishnaw at the latter's office on Monday.

They discussed various bilateral issues related to the railway sector, including the development of railway infrastructure and improvement of the capacity of Bangladesh Railways (BR).

The high commissioner briefed the minister about the status of the upgradation of Dhaka-Chattogram railway tracks, especially Akhaura-Laksamsector and sought the latter's support in this regard.

The Indian side expressed their readiness to supply locomotives, Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train, Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train as well as passenger carriages and transfer of technology for railway signalling system to Bangladesh.

The respective Secretaries of the ministries and other high officials were present during the meetings.

Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh Md Nural Islam also attended the meetings.


Indian authorities on Tuesday flagged off the maiden voyage of steel cargo-laden barge from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in West Bengal's Haldia to Pandu Port in Guwahati through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR).

The maiden voyage – a consignment of 1,798 tonnes of finished steel products by Tata Steel Ltd in Jamshedpur, India – showcases the multi-modal movement of cargo along with harnessing of the power of river-sea combination, as per an official release issued on Wednesday.

The two vessels, named DB ABDUL KALAM and DB KALPANA CHAWLA, are carrying some 900 tonnes of steel each.

After unloading the consignment at Assam's Pandu Port, the barges will return with industrial coal cargo for Kolkata Dock System (KDS).

The barges will move along the neighbouring country's National Waterway 1 (River Ganga) onto IBPR and finally on National Waterway 2 (River Brahmaputra).

Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shantanu Thakur, and Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal also attended the event.

Speaking at the occasion, Sonowal said, "Under PM Gati Shakti (India's national master plan for multi-modal connectivity) the government has envisaged an integrated approach towards communication that is efficient, economical and environment friendly.

"A synergy between inland waterways and ports is being worked out to serve as a multi-modal logistic hub for handling major domestic cargo."


Forrest Cookson

February 16, 2022 12:35 AM

It is obvious that being next to a huge country such as India has important consequences for Bangladesh. In 2022, these relations will be challenged as never before. Relations with India are at many levels: Economic, military, cultural, religious, and financial. The policy of the government is certainly to maintain good relations with India, but not follow India’s demands.

India, on the other hand, recognizes that a friendly relationship with Bangladesh is very important. However, India wants to closely control every aspect of Bangladesh’s government that touches on India interests, which in India’s eyes, is virtually everything.

India runs a very large trade and current account surplus with Bangladesh: In 2020/21 Bangladesh had a current account deficit with India of $8.8 billion. This was largely made up by the trade deficit of $8.3bn (exports from Bangladesh were $1.3bn and imports to Bangladesh were $9.5bn). The official estimates are wrong in four respects:

(1) There is a large amount of under-invoicing of imports. That is, the stated value of the import is less than the true value; the importer uses the hundi system to pay the foreign exporter the difference. For India, more than 50% of invoices were found to be undervalued. We estimate this under-invoicing as $3bn

(2) The balance of payments does not reflect the remittances of Indian workers in Bangladesh that flow through the hundi system. We estimate these at $1.4bn. This is lower than many reported estimates but is based on information from people in the industry

(3) Bangladeshi visitors to India for all purposes (education, medical treatment, tourism) account for $1.5bn for the 2.6 million Bangladeshi visitors to India in 2020/21

(4) Informal trade which is a net $3bn

A more accurate estimate for the current account deficit for India is about $17.7bn. The inflow of capital to Bangladesh from India in 2020/21 was $1.4bn (Most of these numbers are from the Bangladesh Bank’s report on the balance of payments with India for 2020/21). The Indian economy benefits tremendously from this current account deficit. Equally, this reduces the Bangladesh economy by about $14.1bn. The return capital inflow is only $1.4bn.

India has put many barriers to reduce Bangladesh exports. It is a ruthless exploitation of the Bangladesh economy. One would hope that the Bangladesh government in 2022 would insist on corrective arrangements: Lowering the barriers to exports or put countervailing duties in place to lower Indian imports. Second, to prevent Indian companies from under-invoicing exports to Bangladesh. The impact of this is to reduce border taxes collected by Bangladesh; these uncollected revenues amount to about $1bn.

The Indian workers’ illegal transfers through the hundi system should be stopped, these amounts taxed as income, and then made to pass through the formal banking system. The BGMEA has a key role to play here. Since BGMEA is asking a lot of help from the government, it is fair to insist that the payment of foreign workers gets under control.

The Reserve Bank is aware of these flows but does nothing to stop this illegal activity. The other components cannot be controlled. However, the informal trade in cattle can surely be formalized. The data presented here indicates that the informal markets equals the official current account deficit.

The foreign assistance that is offered by India to Bangladesh is limited. Project implementation is slow. There is one large coal-fired power plant soon to come into operation that will make an important contribution to Bangladesh generating power capacity. There are various contributions to the railway, which ultimately probably benefit largely the Indian exporter to Bangladesh.

None of these is likely to make a positive contribution to the economy (that is, a positive return on capital). The foreign assistance is then a show, not a serious investment.

Here is a test: Would the World Bank be willing to finance any of these projects?

Military relations between the two countries seem good and the Indian armed forces are certainly trying to make positive contributions to the Bangladesh military establishment. 2022 should see a deepening of these relationships. Of course India is anxious to improve its relationship with the Bangladesh military.

Some points are very sore: The Chinese supply of submarines and more seriously, the construction of a naval base to house the submarines.

The most serious issue in 2022 will be the Indian treatment of Muslims in India, and in particular, accusations and listings of large numbers of Muslims who -- it is claimed -- have immigrated from Bangladesh. These issues may become more inflamed in 2022 depending largely on the political developments in India. While the Indian government is certainly supportive of Bangladesh, many Indian politicians have little concern for the impact of their policies.

India’s move to establish a Hindu state while making Muslims second-class citizens is a dangerous development for Bangladesh. Encouraging the Hindu state and casting aside the secular state that the great Jawaharlal Nehru established forces three things on South Asia:

(1) The continuation of the caste system with its cruelty and exploitation of the weak

(2) The inevitable rising tension between the Muslims and the Hindus. There are warnings of genocide as the ultimate intent of the BJP

(3) The real catastrophe in South Asia is the deep anger -- even hatred -- between Pakistan and India and each armed with nuclear weapons. Bangladeshis should live in terror of what these two groups -- Pakistani Muslims and Indian Hindus -- are willing to do to each other. Chances of nuclear war in South Asia are rising day by day

Bangladesh should join with China and the United States to lower this nuclear arms race. There are many actions that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina can initiate to lower the threat of nuclear war:

(1) More open trade relations between India and Bangladesh would benefit both sides and generate common business interests. India FDI levels are pathetic for a country of such size. Open trade would probably raise FDI. The hidden, informal trade and investment should come out into the open

(2) Bangladesh must take the lead to rid South Asia of nuclear weapons. Consultations with the US and China can open the door to diplomatic efforts

(3) Bangladesh’s government and foreign service are able to take the lead in trust building actions involving Pakistan and India on nuclear weapons

Forrest Cookson is an economist who has served as the first president of AmCham and has been a consultant for the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. This article, the first of four, is an expansion of an article “Prospects for Bangladesh 2022” published in the AmCham Journal, October – December 2021.


The progress in setting up an Indian special economic zone (SEZ) at Mirsarai in Chittagong is insignificant despite strong intent of both New Delhi and Dhaka in implementing the $115.63 million project, sources said.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) had approved $115.63 million for the project on April 9, 2019.

As per agreement, the Bangladesh government will give $630,000 while India will provide the remaining $115 million. The duration is from April 1, 2019 until June 30, 2023.

However, only Tk40 lakh, or 0.04% of the total project budget has been spent as of January 31 this year, according to sources of the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (Beza).

Asked about the slow progress, two senior officials of the Economic Relations Division refrained from making comments on the issue, saying it was politically sensitive.

Md Mokhlesur Rahman, joint secretary and project director for the establishment of Indian SEZ in Mirsarai, told Dhaka Tribune that implementation of the project will gain momentum soon after selection of a new contractor by Indian Exim Bank.

An Indian diplomat in Dhaka said that the Indian side was sincere in completing the construction.

Repeated attempts were made to get comments from Priyanshu Tiwari, resident representative of Indian Exim Bank, but to no avail.

Sources said that Indian authorities approved $115 million in funds for the project on June 11 under its third Line of Credit (LoC) worth $4.5 billion to Bangladesh, which was agreed upon in 2017.

As per the agreement, Beza will hand over the land to the Indian developer to start the development work at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN).

The ISEZ, to be set up on 1,000 acres of land, will cater to Indian investors.

According to the project paper, $55.52 million will be spent to develop land in the area.

New tenders have been floated to select a new contractor to develop the land.

In December last year, Exim Bank evaluated the prequalification application of three Indian contractors, but none was qualified for shortlisting.

India, which follows the April-March financial year, saw Bangladesh at the fifth position in its list of top export destinations for FY-21, a jump from the ninth rank in 2019-20, with an annualized growth of 10.83% to $9.09 billion.

The top four export destinations in 2020-21 are the US ($51.63 billion), China ($21.2 billion), UAE ($16.68 billion) and Hong Kong ($10.15 billion).

Bangladesh's exports to the Indian markets are expected to reach $2 billion for the first time at the end of the current financial year as the demand for Bangladeshi products is increasing to the neighbouring country.

The proposed Indian Special Economic Zone is expected to bring Indian investment worth several billion dollars and help reduce the trade gap between two countries, said a director of FBCCI and an official of the Economic Relations Division.

The ERD official believes that successful implementation of the ISEZ will help reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries that are heavily tilted towards the neighbouring country.

The industries that will be set up in ISEZ would go into manufacturing products and export goods to the neighbouring countries, particularly to the Seven Sister States of India, he added.

India’s exports to Bangladesh rose 46% on an annual basis at $3.16 billion in January-March, securing it the fourth position after the US ($15.41 billion), China ($5.92 billion) and UAE ($5.34 billion), according to the latest data from the commerce ministry.

Indian merchandise exports to Bangladesh, which saw a 35.14% year-on-year growth to $0.95 billion in January and 17% to $0.94 billion in February, also witnessed a 93.45% annual jump in March to $1.26 billion.

 
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Dhaka and Chattogram will be connected with Agartala in India's Tripura state through flight routes, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said on Saturday (19 February).

"Finally, MBB Airport in Agartala is now set to have international flight service with Dhaka & Chittagong. My heartfelt thanks to Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji & Civil Aviation Minister Shri @JM_Scindia ji for this initiative to fulfill the dream of the people of Tripura," Deb tweeted.

Services along the Dhaka-Agartala and Chattogram-Agartala international routes are expected to begin within the next six months, and India's Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) will soon float tenders inviting expressions of interest from private airlines wishing to operate along the routes, reports the Assam Tribune.

The MoCA has included the proposed international routes under the UDAN scheme, Sanjoy Mishra, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the chief minister said; adding that "MoCA will now float tenders inviting expressions of interest from private airlines who wish to run their services along the two international routes."

The international flight services from Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport are expected to begin within the next six months as the MoCA has already identified the two routes, he further said.

MBB Airport Director Rajiv Kapoor said that the chief minister has taken up with India's Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia the commencement of international flights from the airport at the earliest.

"Right now, I cannot say when the international flight services will kick-start from the airport but we are ready for it. The new terminal building, which was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 4, has all facilities, from customs to immigration and separate zones for arrival and departure, for handling international passengers," he said.


Members of a joint technical committee of Bangladesh and India on Friday inspected the drinking water and irrigation projects along River Feni.

This river is located in the Sabroom sub-division of India's Tripura state – some 129km away from Agartala city, reports Indian media.

As a section of the river demarcates the border thus demands intervention from governments of both the neighbouring countries, should there be a development initiative and dispute.

According to the Tripura government, a 12-member Bangladesh delegation comprising Chief Engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, Chattogram, Md Ramzan Ali Pramanik and Member of the Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission Md Mahmudur Rahaman joined Indian officials led by south Tripura District Magistrate Saju Waheed in the inspection along the river on Friday.

A large area of south Tripura, especially Belonia and Sabroom subdivisions, depend on River Feni for drinking water as well as irrigation for farmlands. A project to draw 1.62 cusecs of water from the river is yet to be completed.

The joint team essentially inspected the project site and discussed technical issues besides land and boundary issues.

Senior officials of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and its Indian counterpart Border Security Force (BSF) were present during the inspection.

South Tripura District Magistrate Saju Waheed said that work for a sealed water treatment plant linking RIver Feni in the Anand Para locality in Sabroom will be resumed soon.

He said discussions had been held with Bangladesh officials on matters related to the setting up of 22 pumps for extracting water from the river for irrigation purposes on the Indian side.


 

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Highlighting Tripura's 25 years roadmap, chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday urged Bangladesh's business community to invest in the state.

"We have already prepared Tripura's roadmap for the next 25 years. The roadmap has been prepared till 2047 and I appeal to you to take your decision of investment after viewing our Lakshya 2047," said Deb at the inauguration of second Bangladesh Film Festival in Agartala.

Of 857 kilometres long international border between India and Bangladesh, 67 kilometres are yet to be fenced.

India exports different goods and materials worth ₹100 crores annually to Bangladesh through Tripura's border check posts and Integrated check post and imports materials worth ₹600 crores.

While launching a floating jetty at Sonamura for Indo-Bangla inland waterway connectivity earlier in 2020, Deb said that the state would be able to export goods worth ₹1,200 crore and import goods worth ₹4,200 in the next five years.

He said that the Centre approved funds for the construction of 36 kilometres road via Bangladesh's Ramgarh to connect Chittagong port with Maitri bridge. With the completion of the road, the distance will be only 72 kilometres instead of 1,600 kilometres from West Bengal's Haldia Port to Agartala via Assam.

"Both Northeast and Bangladesh will earn financial profits with the Chittagong port. Our Agartala-Akhaura railway project, ICP, Maitri bridge, border haat make relations between the two countries strong," said Deb.

Praising Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her initiatives for developments, Deb said, " Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the country to a respectable position. She has introduced a new direction through developments in socio-culture, infrastructure, finance, GDP etc."

He also added that Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has taken the country to a new height.

Tripura's information and cultural affairs minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that the state is going to have its first film institute in collaboration with Kolkata's Satyajit Ray Film Institute at the earliest. He also stressed on organising such film festivals in subdivision and district levels to make the young generations aware of the cordial relations between India and Bangladesh.

 

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Business leaders have said there is an ample opportunity for Indian businessmen to jointly invest in the automobile spare parts industry, in association with Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, as the majority portion of the spare parts of commercial vehicles is imported from the neighbouring country.

"The Tk1,000-crore auto spare parts market in Bangladesh is import-dependent as 95% of goods are imported. Some 90% of the commercial vehicle parts are imported from India so, Indian companies can invest here," said India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) President Abdul Matlub Ahmad at a programme in the capital on Thursday.

The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) in association with the Bangladesh Automobiles Assemblers and Manufacturers Association and IBCCI organised the programme titled "India-Bangladesh Auto Component Show" at the InterContinental Dhaka.

The IBCCI president said Indian companies can build factories in Bangladesh and sell their products in local as well as foreign markets.

Addressing businessmen, State Minister for Commerce Kamal Ahmed Majumder, who was present at the programme as the chief guest, said, "The huge auto parts market, skilled workers and business-friendly policies in Bangladesh would motivate you in investing. Additionally, technology exchange between the two countries will help modernise the business."

"Bangladesh is setting up 100 economic zones for investors. We hope that Bangladesh will become self-reliant in producing automobile parts within the next five years," he added.

In his speech, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami said import-export activities between the two neighbouring countries have doubled in the last few years. Not only politics but trade will also be a key driver for stronger Bangladesh-India ties in the next 50 years.

ACMA Director General Vinnie Mehta said, "The per capita income of Bangladesh is higher than that in India. Their purchasing is also increasing. As investing in Bangladesh would be beneficial we are considering how we can work together."

Twenty companies from India and 17 from Bangladesh took part in the day-long show and showcased their products.

Former FBCCI president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority Executive Member Abhijit Chowdhury and others also spoke on the occasion.


The Gubrakura and Karaitali land ports in Haluaghat upazila of Mymensingh that connect Bangladesh with India are yet to become fully operational despite being opened about 10 years ago.

However, the authorities say they hope the port-related development works will end by April this year, enabling the two customs stations to facilitate bilateral trade.

"We will inaugurate the ports by May-June," said Md Alamgir, chairman of the Bangladesh Land Port Authority.

Former Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan officially opened the land ports on September 15, 2012.

Since the 1990s, Gubrakura and Karaitali have been considered as land customs stations for the sole purpose of importing coal and stone from India, local businessmen said.

But the land ports, located 57 kilometres from Mymensingh town, have huge potential to boost economic activities in the region, they added.

According to a revenue official, traders have so far imported more than 100,000 tonnes of coal through the ports since December last year, earning the government around Tk 22.50 crore.

Development work on the two customs stations involving more than Tk 67 crore was initiated in July 2018 with a scheduled completion date of June 2020. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced the authorities to extend the project duration by two years to June 2022.

Local traders have long been urging for the development of sufficient infrastructure, such as wide roads, warehouses, yards, weighbridges, and administrative buildings at the land ports to boost trade.

This includes building a four-lane highway from the land ports to Mymensingh to ensure quick and easy transport of both import and export items.

If the land port becomes fully functional, the government and the people, especially in this area, would be benefited as economic activities will see a boost, creating more jobs in the process, traders said.

Some 300 regular importers are currently engaged in importing coal through the Karaitali and Gubrakura land ports.

"If operations begin in full swing, we will be able to import not only coal and stone, but also limestone, chemical fertilisers, fruits, spices, china clay, timber, mustard, rice, and so on," said Ashoke Sarker Apu, secretary of the Haluaghat Exporters and Importers Group.

Besides, the completed ports would facilitate the export of garments, cement, melamine, ceramics, cosmetics, juice, frozen and dry fish, and other packaged food items to India and Bhutan as well, he added.

"For a while now, local traders have been clamouring for immigration and export facilities at the ports, which, if introduced, would increase the government's revenue manifold," said Shahidul Islam, a coal trader.

Traders also demanded direct bus services from Dhaka to Guwahati in India's Assam to make it easier to visit the region and other connecting states, such as Meghalaya and Tripura.

Md Sajedul Karim, superintendent of customs, VAT and excise for the Mymensingh Circle-2, says if bilateral trade is boosted through the ports, there would be huge scope for the government to earn more revenue throughout the year.


 

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Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami has said that his country is planning to open a visa centre in Kushtia district within one or two months after the Covid-19 situation improves.

"The Indian government is taking new steps in education, culture, industry and communication sector to strengthen India-Bangladesh friendship further. In this context, a visa centre will be set up in Kushtia for the convenience of the people of this region," he said on Saturday.

The Indian high commissioner made the remarks before joining a view exchange meeting with dignitaries at Disha Tower here on the occasion handing over the key of life support ambulance.

Rotary Club of Kushtia organized the programme.

Doraiswami said apart from opening a visa centre, there is also an immense opportunity of launching training centres for physicians, journalists and nurses in Kushtia under the joint venture of India and Bangladesh.

Awami League (AL) Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, MP, local lawmakers AKM Sarwar Jahan Badsha and Barrister Selim Altaf George, Kushtia Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Saidul Islam, Kushtia district AL President Sadar Uddin Khan and General Secretary Asgar Ali, Sadar Upazila Chairman Ataur Rahman Ata and Rotary Club of Kushtia President Kamruzzaman Nasir were present at the function, among others.

 

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The Indian side of the Assam-Sylhet rail line project, taken up to boost regional trade and connectivity between India and Bangladesh, has come close to completion, but the Bangladesh side of it is lagging far behind.

The Indian side of the rail route is expected to be completed by December this year, reports Assam-based news outlet Barak Bulletin.

However, completion of the Bangladesh part of the project remains uncertain as its implementation period has been extended repeatedly.

The Bangladesh side of the project is expected to be finished by December 2022, as per the latest time extension, but it has only made 30% physical progress in the decade since it was launched, said sources.

Project officials said it would not be possible to complete the project by the given time and more extinction would be needed for completing the route.

During the British period and after the independence of India, a rail route through Karimganj, Assam played an important role in connecting Bangladesh and Myanmar with other parts of India.

The Bangladesh part of the cross-border line, which is around 52.54 km, including 6.8 km of loop line, will stretch from Kulaura to Shahbazpur. The route has not been operational since December 1996 due to lack of traffic.

The Assam-Sylhet rail line project, taken in July 2011, was expected to be completed by June 2017.

But the project was extended several times due to various reasons, including faulty design, delayed financial closure and sluggishness on the contractor's end.

Initially, a metre gauge line was planned for the project, but later, the design was changed following the instructions from the prime minister who directed that all newly-constructed railways have to be dual gauge or broad gauge tracks.

"For the changes in design, the project work could not be started before 2018," said Project director Md Sultan Ali.

"The delay in financial approval is another reason for the delay in the project, which is being implemented under the Indian Line of Credit," he added.

The contract for the work was awarded to Kalindi Railway Construction Company, an Indian construction company.

 
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