Coastal shipping trials to start from October

Bangladesh and India have agreed to start trial runs of coastal shipping next month in a landmark decision.

The decision has been taken at the third foreign ministers’ level Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday.

Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali led Bangladesh side while his counterpart Sushma Swaraj led her side in the first of such meeting after the regime change in Delhi.

According to a joint statement after the meeting, both Ministers agreed that the waterways offer “a cost effective and environment friendly” means of transport.

“….and there is great scope for effective utilization of the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT)”.

They welcomed the progress in discussions between countries on commencement of coastal shipping operations and agreed that trial runs would be held in October.

They also agreed to expedite the process of concluding a bilateral Coastal Shipping Agreement and decided to hold the next round of Shipping Secretary level talks in Dhaka next month.

Till date, there is only a riverine protocol for movement of small vessels on rivers flowing in both the countries.

In a long joint statement that reviewed the whole range of bilateral co-operation between neighbours, the ministers reiterated their commitment to finalise the interim agreement for sharing of the waters of the Teesta and Feni rivers.

The Indian side reiterated its earlier commitment that it would not take any “unilateral decision on the Himalayan component of the proposed River Interlinking project which may adversely affect Bangladesh”.

India has taken up a project to link its internal rivers.

Both sides agreed to hold the 38th Meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) in Dhaka at a mutually convenient date.

They also agreed to hold the 3rd meeting of the Sub group of JRC on Tipaimukh hydro-electric project shortly and further exchange of data of ongoing study.

The foreign ministers’ level meeting touched upon all areas of bilateral co-operation and stressed on high-level visits and people-to-people contacts to take the relations forward.

In this regard, both sides welcomed the visit of 100 member youth delegation from Bangladesh to India scheduled to take place from Oct 13 to Oct 20.

The ministers also welcomed the signing of the MoU on Nalanda University in Bihar.

Both sides also agreed to continue to work closely in the process of finalization of the Post-2015 development agenda at the United Nations.

Both sides expressed satisfaction at the level of cooperation and achievement in the power sector.

They appreciated the establishment of inter-connected grid between Bheramara-Baharampur in October last year and supply of 500 MW of power from India to Bangladesh through bilateral power purchase agreements.

They expressed satisfaction at the steps being taken to operationalise the supply of 100 MW of power from Palatana Power Plant in Tripura to Bangladesh.

They welcomed the decision of the Joint Steering Committee on Power to examine the proposal for augmenting supply of power through the Behrampur-Bheramara grid inter connection from 500 MW to 1000 MW.

The foreign ministers directed that the necessary technical reports be expedited.

They welcomed the decision of the Joint Steering Committee to accept the recommendations of the Joint Technical Team on power evacuation from the North East of India through Bangladesh with “suitable power tapping points in Bangladesh”.

They directed that the relevant report in this regard be completed within the agreed six month period.

Both ministers expressed satisfaction at the pace of work on the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company’s 1320 MW coal-fired power plant coming up at Rampal, District Bagerhat, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s participation in hydro power projects in the North-Eastern States of India will be “actively explored”.

Both sides stressed the importance of sub-regional cooperation in water resources management and power or hydropower and connectivity.

They also agreed to enhance telecommunication connectivity between the two countries.

They agreed to hold the next JCC meeting in Bangladesh at a mutually convenient date.