India, Bangladesh operationalise easy movement of goods through sea route

Reuters: India and Bangladesh on Sunday (15 November) operationalised an agreement on coastal shipping service aimed at cutting down transportation cost of goods between the two countries.

Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Shipping Secretary of Bangladesh, Shafique Alam Mehdi, vetted the agreement signed in June 2015.

Bangladesh and India had signed the coastal shipping deal during the Dhaka visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year.

The two countries expect to enhance bilateral trade by reducing transportation costs.

Gadkari said both the nations stood to benefit as it would cut down logistic costs.

“Logistic costs now-a -days comprise 30 percent of the value of products. Reducing logistic costs is the best way to help consumers. India, Bangladesh signed the coastal ship agreement in June 2015. The standard operating procedure (SOP) being signed today and will operationalise this agreement and set the rules under which river, sea vessels, operate between India and Bangladesh under the coastal shipping agreement,” said Gadkari.

Mehdi dubbed it as a historic decision.

“It depends largely on our political leadership. We act as we are asked to act, as our prime minister is very keen to take the relationship between our two friendly countries to the apex of relationship. So we are moving ahead of time,” said Mehdi.

The two countries are scheduled to hold shipping secretary level talks on Monday (16 November) and will sign MoUs on several issues.

The growth in bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has led to congestion on roads at border areas prompting the two countries to explore cheaper river routes.