PM's Upcoming Visit to Delhi: Deal likely on use of Ctg, Mongla ports by India

Dhaka and New Delhi are expected to sign 30 to 35 primary and final agreements, including that for the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports by India and its fresh commitment for project loans, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's four-day official visit to India later this month.

Initially, 20 to 25 projects have been identified for which India may offer over $10 billion in credit, a finance ministry official said, asking not to be named citing diplomatic protocol. 

The MoUs are likely to be project-based, similar to those inked with China in October during Chinese President Xi Jinping's Dhaka visit.

At the time, Dhaka and Beijing signed 27 deals worth about $24.45 billion in soft loan for various key development projects. In addition, 13 Bangladeshi entities and as many Chinese companies signed 13 joint venture agreements involving $13.6 billion of Chinese investment in Bangladesh.

Together, the sum of $38.05 billion is the biggest ever assistance pledged to Bangladesh by any single country. However, this figure may change, depending on the project cost at the time of implementation.

Sources said India was keen to finance projects to be implemented by Indian companies. At the moment, various projects worth $3 billion are being implemented with Indian soft loan, for which several agreements were signed during Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi's visit.

Hasina is likely to fly to India on December 17 and hold official talks with Modi the next day, diplomatic sources said.

It will be her first official visit there after Modi assumed power in 2014, though she has visited India twice since 2015 -- for the funeral of President Pranab Mukherjee's wife in August 2015 and for BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach meets in October this year.

Modi visited Dhaka in June last year when a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or primary agreement was signed between the two sides on the use of the two ports.

After his trip, shipping ministry officials of the two countries started preparing drafts of the agreement and the Standard Operational Procedure (SOP).

Talks for finalising the drafts kicked off in Dhaka yesterday. A 16-member Bangladesh team led by Shipping Secretary Ashok Madhob Roy and a nine-member Indian delegation led by its Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar are holding the talks.

The final agreement on this is expected during Hasina's visit, said a shipping ministry official, adding that India wants to start using the two posts on a limited scale from next year.

Before the meeting, however, Ashok told reporters that they could not say for sure if the deal would be signed during the upcoming visit.

But the foreign ministry and the finance ministry have been working on this, he said, adding that the shipping secretary-level meeting was a regular one, where other important issues of interest would also be discussed.

The draft mentions how India will use the ports and what methods would be followed. The secretary-level meet will now discuss and finalise those. 

The Indian shipping secretary said, “Our endeavor will be that we should complete this process of agreement and SOPs as early as we can mutually agree. Our team is here and they are working on it. I am very hopeful that, at least this part, we will be able to complete by this month.” 

He added: “Once the SOPs and the agreements will be in place, this will provide the environment for people to take full advantage on both sides.”

India wants to use Bangladeshi ports in the way other international ports are used. Bangladesh will charge levies and fees just as other international ports do. These will be spelt out in details in the SOPs, said the Bangladesh shipping secretary.

Explaining how Bangladesh will benefit from the agreement, he said Bangladesh is an importing country. When goods are delivered in Bangladesh many ships depart empty. But when Indian goods will be transported through Bangladeshi ports, these ships can be used to export goods as well.

According to the draft agreement, Bangladeshi ports will be used for transporting Indian goods from one area to another within Bangladesh. There is scope for using Bangladeshi ports for transporting Indian export items.

Agreements on construction of a multi-purpose container terminal and plying of Indian tourist ships in Bangladesh territory may also be signed.

Initially, however, the tourists will not be allowed to disembark the ships. This provision would later be relaxed, officials said.

The two countries are also likely to sign a crucial deal styled Framework of Bilateral Agreement on Defence Cooperation to bolster and expand partnership in the areas of defence, our diplomatic correspondent adds.

Dhaka and New Delhi are looking to expand security ties as part of the growing strategic partnership, diplomatic sources said yesterday. 

Ahead of the PM's visit, the two sides are having high-level visits to firm up various agreements. The latest visit of Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Bangladesh and the home secretary-level talks in New Delhi on December 5-6 were held in a “spirit of friendship”.

Security, border management, terrorism and violent extremism were discussed during the home secretary-level talks along with the issue of counterterrorism, the source added.

Hasina is scheduled to hold talks with Modi on a wide range of issues, including the long pending Teesta water-sharing pact, but the possibility of inking the deal is thin during this visit.

Meanwhile, Dhaka is set to announce the selection of India's Reliance Power Ltd. to build a 500,000 Mcf/d a floating storage and regasification unit and and a 750 MW combined cycle power plant during the visit, S&P Global Platts reported yesterday.

The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board expect a draft power purchase agreement, implementation agreement and land lease agreement to be signed during the visit.

"We are now working to finalise the draft deals," BPDB Chairman Khaled Mahmood said.

The projects are expected to be awarded under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provisions) Act 2010, which does not require a tender process.