Bangladesh wants South Asia to tap trans-boundary rivers

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali has said the South Asia region can take advantage of the trans-boundary rivers for inter-country means of riverine transport.

He said high transport costs continue to be the greatest impediment to trade competitiveness of LDCs and equitable access of their products to global as well as regional markets.

"A greater opportunity to use the riverine routes and improvement of the quality of the river connectivity should be at the core of any strategy aiming at stimulating exports and promoting the participation of domestic economy in regional markets and beyond in the global chains of production," he said.

The foreign minister inaugurated the NADI-2 Dialogue with the theme “Celebrating Common Riverine Heritage of the Bay of Bengal: Perspectives from Bangladesh and India” in Dhaka on Sunday.

The ‘Asian Confluence’ and ‘Friends of Bangladesh’ in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh organised the dialogue.

Ram Madhav, National General Secretary, BJP and Director, India Foundation; M Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Harsh Vardhan Shringla, High Commissioner of India, were present.

Ali said as many as 57 cross-boundary rivers flow through Bangladesh down to the Bay of Bengal.

Out of these, 54 rivers are coming through Indian territory.

But he said the riverine transport is taking place in a limited way.

The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) has been operational since 1972. For that Indian cargo is transported by vessels from mainland to north-east India using Bangladesh’s inland water ways.

Meanwhile, the PIWTT has been renewed in 2015 and many new ports of call have been included.

The foreign minister said the signing of the coastal shipping deal with India has opened up new avenues of connectivity and trade facilitation.

"We are also looking at plying of passenger and cruise vessels in these protocol routes," he said.

An MoU for movement of passenger and cruise vessels in coastal shipping routes and inland water protocol routes was signed on April 8 this year.

"Mutual respect and understanding of each other’s perspectives has matured the Bangladesh-India relationship over the years," he said, recalling India's support to Bangladesh in the War of Liberation in 1971.