Transhipment to try out the route
A trial transhipment of Indian goods is going on between Ashuganj and Akhaura by road through payment of all applicable charges as agreed upon by Bangladesh and India on February 13 this year, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni stated yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference at the foreign ministry, the minister said a total of four cargo ships carrying Indian goods would operate from Kolkata to Ashuganj river port and then the goods would be shipped by road to Akhaura in line with the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade.
Dr. Dipu Moni informed the press that three cargo ships--two Bangladeshi and one Indian--were anchored at Ashuganj, while a fourth Bangladeshi ship was sailing towards Ashuganj from Kolkata.
The foreign minister said she had no information about any exemption of charges for the transit and transhipment of Indian goods. "The trial run will continue until a specific date agreed by the two countries is reached.”
She said the aim of the trial run was to see what the problems were and what was needed to make the route operative.
She emphasised the government's position that it was not providing transit or transhipment only to India. "We are looking at it as part of a greater connectivity; we mean to establish regional connectivity and Ashuganj is part of that greater connectivity," she added.
The minister reiterated that it would take time to make the connectivity fully operative as there are many factors, such as fixing fees, charges, etc. She let it be known that a committee was working on the matter.
Replying to a question, the foreign minister said road, rail and water transit between Bangladesh and India had already been there in the agreements signed in 1972 and 1980 and which were renewed over the years.
On the sharing of Teesta waters and an exchange of letters on transit facilities, she held out the assurance that both would come to fruition in the future.
When journalists pressed for a possible time frame for the signing of the Teesta deal, a visibly angry foreign minister retorted, “I cannot give the specific moment and date as I am not an astrologer. Why have you become so impatient? We have made a lot of progress in only one and a half years, which was not achieved in the last 40 years… There is no reason for frustration.”
The government of Sheikh Hasina had previously signed the Ganges water sharing treaty and it was hopeful about signing the Teesta agreement as well, Dipu Moni told a questioner.
The foreign minister said the water sharing issue had remained unresolved over decades but no government other than that led by the Awami League had resolved it.
"We have yet not received any fresh proposal from India regarding the earlier consensus on the agreement, including the percentage of water,” she stated.
But she held out the assurance that Bangladesh's interests would be upheld. "We will sign the agreement keeping in view Bangladesh's interest as a priority. Bangladesh will seek a solution based on a just sharing of the waters of common rivers and upholding the national interest," she added.
Turning to the legal battle on the country's maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar, she said a verbal hearing of the case concluded last month at ITLOS (International Tribunal on the Laws of the Sea) in Hamburg, Germany, adding, "We expect the tribunal to deliver its verdict in March next year."
The arbitration on the maritime boundary with India will take place in 2013, with the verdict likely to be delivered in 2014, the minister stated.
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