The role of India’s NE in Regional Cooperation ArchitectureAmbar Kumar Ghosh and Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury

    07-Jul-2021
|
Contd from previous issue
In Routes (1) & (2) [Kolkata-Shilghat-Kolkata] as well as in Routes (3) & (4) [Kolkata-Karimganj-Kolkata], Kolaghat in India has been added. Routes (3) & (4) [Kolkata-Karimganj-Kolkata] and Routes (7) & (8) [Karimganj-Shilghat-Karimganj] have been extended up to Badarpur in India. In these routes, Ghorasal in Bangladesh has also been added. At present, there are six Ports of Call each in India and Bangladesh under the Protocol. Five more Ports of Call have been added: Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad in Bangladesh and Dhulian, Maia, Kolaghat, Sonamura and Jogigophs in India, along with two more extended Ports of Call such as Ghorashal, Muktarpur in Bangladesh and Tribeni, Badarpur in India.
National Waterway (NW) 16 (River Barak) figures prominently on these routes and has become vital in connecting India’s North East with Kolkata. Barak River is the second largest river in the NER. Originating from south of Kohima in Nagaland near Nagaland–Manipur border, it traverses Nagaland, Manipur and Assam, and splits at Bhanga into two streams called Surma and Kushiyara. These two streams rejoin at Markuli in Bangladesh and thereafter the river is called Meghna. The Barak–Meghna river system has a total length of 900 km: 524 km is in India, 31 km on the India–Bangladesh border, and the rest in Bangladesh. The navigable portion of Barak River in India is the 121-km stretch between Lakhipur and Bhanga which has been declared as NW-16 in 2016. Implementation of various projects for development of infrastructure on NW-16 has already started.
However, the shared protocol routes are largely seasonal ones, and alternative links are also needed. To further develop inland waterways connectivity, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) will improve facilities at Bhanga (19 km upstream of Karimganj), and at Badarpur (also in the Barak Valley).
At the last India-Bangladesh summit meeting held virtually on 17 December 2020, both countries further reviewed bilateral connectivity measures and welcomed recent initiatives, such as the signing of the second addendum to the Protocol in May (which added the Sonamura-Daudkhandi route and extended some of the others) and the trial shipment of Indian goods from Kolkata to Agartala via Chattogram. The Prime Ministers of both countries agreed to rapidly operationalise the trans-shipment of Indian goods through the Chattogram and Mongla ports. India reiterated its request to Bangladesh to create at least one land-based port in Bangladesh which could trade with its neighbouring States in India, while keeping the list of export-barred items (‘negative list’) to a minimum, and starting with Agartala on the Indian side and Akhaura in Bangladesh. Bangladesh proposed that Bangladeshi trucks be allowed to use the Feni Bridge connecting Tripura and Bangladesh, to transport goods from Chattogram to the North East.
(To be contd)