It was reported that at long last India decided to bypass Bangladesh not only in the matter of transporting of gas from Myanmar but also in fostering trade link with South East Asia. Some time ago a great friend, a very pragmatic entrepreneur, pioneer among the industrialists and a patriot with past political background told me that this was what would happen at the end of the day. He made this prophetic forecast during the years of lengthy dialogues/discussions that had been in progress between India and Bangladesh since 1972 in respect of transit, reshipment or whatever else one may like to call with particular focus on the near land-locked north eastern states of our neighbour(the 7 sisters) . Unfortunately for us, he now sent me a small note with the subject paper cutting condoling the loss of such an economic opportunity / return in terms of revenue/employment. No words perhaps will suffice to condemn the actions of those responsible for the unwise & bankrupt policy of the political leadership that made us miss the bus once again like we had done on many occasions in the past .

The ultimate responsibility for the great loss of future such as the aforesaid episode should of course lie fairly and squarely upon the shoulders of our authorities handling the affairs of ports & shipping.