CaPtAiN_pLaNeT
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Bangladesh says no to Chittagong port for India
Dhaka links access to port with Teesta issue | Business Standard
Bangla govt has clearly told that it will not give access to India to the port unless India resolves Teesta river issue
Bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh have hit a major hurdle with Bangladeshs reluctance to open up the Chittagong port, a long pending request made by India. Bangladesh government has clearly told India that it will not give access to India to the port unless the latter resolves the Teesta river issue.
Bangladesh will soon be heading for an election later this year, hence, India now faces a tough deadline to sign the historic Teesta water-sharing agreement.
We have been constantly requesting them to give us access to the (Chittagong) port, but they have officially linked it up with the Teesta issue We even requested them to at least allow smaller ships to operate between Chittagong and Vizag to help faster movement of goods, even that has been refused by them, a senior official involved in the talks told Business Standard.
India had also been wanting to use the Chittagong port for the transit of ships. At present, most of the trade through sea happens via Singapore inflating the transshipment cost.
Last month during his visit to India, Bangladesh finance minister Abul Maal A Muhith said regarding Teesta that India must take the decision now. He also hoped that a decision on this would be taken by India soon.
Last year in July Bangladesh had announced that it will give India access to the Chittagong port, which will provide huge benefit for trade and development of Indias northeast region as well as to Bangladesh. India had been demanding access to this port for over a decade. An agreement to this effect was supposed to be signed during the Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to the country in September. But the agreement could not be signed at that time because West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee backtracked at the last moment and opposed the signing of the deal.
Banerjee stood against the increasing of water share for Bangladesh from 25,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) to 50,000 cusecs and she termed the treaty to be against the interest of West Bengal.
In his recent visit to Bangladesh, President Pranab Mukherjee had assured that India will come up with a fair and reasonable solution to the sharing of Teesta waters soon.
Earlier this year, during a meeting between commerce and industry and textiles minister Anand Sharma and his Bangladeshi counterpart Ghulam Muhammad Quader, the latter had clearly stated that the Prime Minister needs to sign the Teesta water-sharing agreement at the earliest else the confidence of Bangladeshi government will take a hit.
Dhaka links access to port with Teesta issue | Business Standard
Bangla govt has clearly told that it will not give access to India to the port unless India resolves Teesta river issue
Bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh have hit a major hurdle with Bangladeshs reluctance to open up the Chittagong port, a long pending request made by India. Bangladesh government has clearly told India that it will not give access to India to the port unless the latter resolves the Teesta river issue.
Bangladesh will soon be heading for an election later this year, hence, India now faces a tough deadline to sign the historic Teesta water-sharing agreement.
We have been constantly requesting them to give us access to the (Chittagong) port, but they have officially linked it up with the Teesta issue We even requested them to at least allow smaller ships to operate between Chittagong and Vizag to help faster movement of goods, even that has been refused by them, a senior official involved in the talks told Business Standard.
India had also been wanting to use the Chittagong port for the transit of ships. At present, most of the trade through sea happens via Singapore inflating the transshipment cost.
Last month during his visit to India, Bangladesh finance minister Abul Maal A Muhith said regarding Teesta that India must take the decision now. He also hoped that a decision on this would be taken by India soon.
Last year in July Bangladesh had announced that it will give India access to the Chittagong port, which will provide huge benefit for trade and development of Indias northeast region as well as to Bangladesh. India had been demanding access to this port for over a decade. An agreement to this effect was supposed to be signed during the Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to the country in September. But the agreement could not be signed at that time because West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee backtracked at the last moment and opposed the signing of the deal.
Banerjee stood against the increasing of water share for Bangladesh from 25,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) to 50,000 cusecs and she termed the treaty to be against the interest of West Bengal.
In his recent visit to Bangladesh, President Pranab Mukherjee had assured that India will come up with a fair and reasonable solution to the sharing of Teesta waters soon.
Earlier this year, during a meeting between commerce and industry and textiles minister Anand Sharma and his Bangladeshi counterpart Ghulam Muhammad Quader, the latter had clearly stated that the Prime Minister needs to sign the Teesta water-sharing agreement at the earliest else the confidence of Bangladeshi government will take a hit.
ha ha ha ha ha .
