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Officials and experts said last week signing of an agreement on transit and transshipment between Bangladesh and India would not be possible within the tenure of the present government.
They said before signing the main deal the two sides needed to sign 17 to 18 protocols, compilation and finalisation of which would take a long time.
Besides, issues like transit fee, routes, infrastructure cost, environmental cost, the mode of operation and many other technical details also should be settled, they further said.
"We don't have any communication with the Indian side, particularly on transit over the last four months," a high official at the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) told The Financial Express.
"The ball is now in India's court. If they come forward with specific suggestions on transit, we may resume the talks again," the official added.
Dr. M. Rahmatullah, former director of Transport and Infrastructure Development at UN-ESCAP, who was a member of the core committee on transit and transshipment, said: "I see no hope of signing the agreement within the present government's tenure."
The government linked the transit issue to the Teesta water sharing deal and the border dispute settlement. Until and unless the two issues were resolved, the transit issue would also remain unsettled, Mr Rahmatullah said.
"Providing multi-modal transit facilities to India is the only trump card Bangladesh can use in pressing home its rightful demands. We have to play the trump card properly," he added.
Dr. Mohammad Yunus, Senior Research Fellow of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), who was also a member of the core committee on transit, said many of the technical issues remained unsettled making it difficult to sign the deal within the remaining tenure of the government.
He said the government should finalise all details on transit before signing the main agreement.
Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI), who prepared a report on transit and transshipment, said the government did not take recourse to it that gave all details which could be accommodated in the proposed agreement.
"I don't see any hope of signing the agreement within the remaining period of the present government," Mr Rahman added.
Earlier, the MoFA, the ministry of commerce and the ministry of shipping dealt with transit-related issues with India.
Bangladesh and India signed a framework agreement on cooperation and development in 2009, under which both sides worked on sub-regional cooperation and transit.
India is seeking transit and transhipment facilities for carrying cargoes through Bangladesh to its 'Seven Sister' states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
In early 2011, the Core Committee on Transit, headed by former chairman of Bangladesh Tariff Commission Mujibur Rahman, submitted its final report to the Prime Minister's Office after two years of work on it.
Since then the report had been gathering dusts, commerce ministry sources said.
However, the committee was against allowing transit at the present stage without necessary infrastructure development.
It also reported that around US$ 6.33 billion should be invested to make the routes operational and it would take three to four years.
The report estimated that Bangladesh could earn about $ 44 million a year by providing transit to India and other neighbours in the first five years, a transport expert said.
The report said Bangladesh should charge Tk. 1,330 (US $19) per tonne of goods as transit fee for Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese products to be transported through its territory.
Earlier, the core committee was asked to submit reports on routes and fees and assess the volume of transit traffic by December 25, 2010.
Later, the deadline was extended to January 15 and then to February 2011.
Five sub-committees under the core committee prepared reports on transit routes, transit fees, environmental impact, infrastructure development and legal issues.
source: India-Bangla transit deal not possible in this govt's tenure :: Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
They said before signing the main deal the two sides needed to sign 17 to 18 protocols, compilation and finalisation of which would take a long time.
Besides, issues like transit fee, routes, infrastructure cost, environmental cost, the mode of operation and many other technical details also should be settled, they further said.
"We don't have any communication with the Indian side, particularly on transit over the last four months," a high official at the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) told The Financial Express.
"The ball is now in India's court. If they come forward with specific suggestions on transit, we may resume the talks again," the official added.
Dr. M. Rahmatullah, former director of Transport and Infrastructure Development at UN-ESCAP, who was a member of the core committee on transit and transshipment, said: "I see no hope of signing the agreement within the present government's tenure."
The government linked the transit issue to the Teesta water sharing deal and the border dispute settlement. Until and unless the two issues were resolved, the transit issue would also remain unsettled, Mr Rahmatullah said.
"Providing multi-modal transit facilities to India is the only trump card Bangladesh can use in pressing home its rightful demands. We have to play the trump card properly," he added.
Dr. Mohammad Yunus, Senior Research Fellow of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), who was also a member of the core committee on transit, said many of the technical issues remained unsettled making it difficult to sign the deal within the remaining tenure of the government.
He said the government should finalise all details on transit before signing the main agreement.
Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI), who prepared a report on transit and transshipment, said the government did not take recourse to it that gave all details which could be accommodated in the proposed agreement.
"I don't see any hope of signing the agreement within the remaining period of the present government," Mr Rahman added.
Earlier, the MoFA, the ministry of commerce and the ministry of shipping dealt with transit-related issues with India.
Bangladesh and India signed a framework agreement on cooperation and development in 2009, under which both sides worked on sub-regional cooperation and transit.
India is seeking transit and transhipment facilities for carrying cargoes through Bangladesh to its 'Seven Sister' states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
In early 2011, the Core Committee on Transit, headed by former chairman of Bangladesh Tariff Commission Mujibur Rahman, submitted its final report to the Prime Minister's Office after two years of work on it.
Since then the report had been gathering dusts, commerce ministry sources said.
However, the committee was against allowing transit at the present stage without necessary infrastructure development.
It also reported that around US$ 6.33 billion should be invested to make the routes operational and it would take three to four years.
The report estimated that Bangladesh could earn about $ 44 million a year by providing transit to India and other neighbours in the first five years, a transport expert said.
The report said Bangladesh should charge Tk. 1,330 (US $19) per tonne of goods as transit fee for Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese products to be transported through its territory.
Earlier, the core committee was asked to submit reports on routes and fees and assess the volume of transit traffic by December 25, 2010.
Later, the deadline was extended to January 15 and then to February 2011.
Five sub-committees under the core committee prepared reports on transit routes, transit fees, environmental impact, infrastructure development and legal issues.
source: India-Bangla transit deal not possible in this govt's tenure :: Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
