The role of India’s NE in Regional Cooperation Architecture

    05-Jul-2021
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Ambar Kumar Ghosh and Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury
Contd from previous issue
Linkages via Waterways
Before the partition of India in 1947, trade with India’s North Eastern region was mostly through the territories of what is now Bangladesh. Rail and river transit across the erstwhile East Pakistan continued until March 1965 when, following increased tensions which led to the India-Pakistan war some months later, all transit traffic was suspended. River transit, however, was restored, in a very limited way, in 1972 after the birth of Bangladesh. Realising that improved connectivity can benefit both countries, New Delhi and Dhaka have lately become more proactive in reviving it. For India in particular, transit and trans-shipment through Bangladesh can boost the economy of the North East by giving the region access to the Bay of Bengal. Four of the North Eastern States—Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram—share borders with Bangladesh. With the exception of the Meghalaya border, which runs entirely along land, the remaining States share both land and riverine borders with Bangladesh. Tripura and Mizoram have the longest such borders, and could benefit hugely if there were no travel barriers through Bangladesh. The distance from Agartala to Kolkata through the ‘chicken’s neck’ and then via Guwahati and Shillong, for instance, is 1,650 km, while, cutting across Bangladesh, it is just about 350 km.
Bangladesh’s initiative to develop a new container terminal at Chattogram Port, and another at Pangaon, aims to enhance bilateral maritime trade with India through short sea shipping arrangements. Earlier, goods traded between them had to be shipped via the ports of Colombo, Singapore, or Klang.  Also, Indian goods to the North East can now be delivered through Chattogram port. Cargo from Kolkata can use multimodal transport to reach Chattogram or Mongla, or India’s North East. Bangladesh has allowed the use of the following routes: Chattogram/Mongla to Agartala (Tripura), Chattogram/Mongla to Dawki (Meghalaya), and Chattogram/Mongla to Sutarkandi (Assam) and Chattogram/Mongla to Srimantpur (Tripura). The riverine ports of Farraka and Bandel on the Indian side have been, like Pangaon in Bangladesh, designated ‘ports of calls’ under the Coastal Shipping Agreement (2015).
The India-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, signed in 1972, was a pioneering initiative. The designated inland water routes under this protocol, which was expanded in 2020 from eight to 10 and new locations are also added to the existing routes: -Daudkhandi stretch of Gumti river (93 Km) as India-Bangladesh Protocol Route No. 9 & 10 in the Protocol will improve the connectivity of Tripura and adjoining States with the hinterland of both the countries. It is expected that the operationalization of Rajshahi-Dhulian-Rajshahi Routes and their extension up to Aricha (270km) will help the augmentation of infrastructure in Bangladesh as it would reduce the transportation cost of stone chips/aggregate to northern part of Bangladesh through this route. It will also decongest the Land Custom Stations on both sides.
(To be contd)