Anisul Islam Noor :
Bangladesh wants to import hydro-electricity from Bhutan. The World Bank will give soft loan for developing electricity lines and other infrastructure, but future all of this future is depending on the India’s consent, Commerce Ministry sources said.
wqA meeting with a powerful delegation from Bhutan started in Dhaka on Tuesday where hydro-electricity import issue got prevalence. But India’s approval is also essential in this case. Bhutan has already said that a deal between Bangladesh and Bhutan will be not enough for the hydro-power agreement. A tri-nation agreement among India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh is must for this.
Bangladesh will require dredging its rivers if it is to sign a river transit agreement with Bhutan. It will look at the World Bank for a soft loan for this purpose.
However, it fears that the World Bank will not agree to the loan if India does not approve. These issues were raised in the papers prepared by the Commerce Ministry ahead of the commerce secretary-level meeting between Bangladesh and Bhutan. The two-day meeting began in Dhaka on Tuesday. Commerce secretary Hedayetullah Al-Mamun is leading a 17-member Bangladesh delegation, while Dasho Yeshi Wangbi heads a 10-member Bhutanees team.
Commerce secretary Hedayetullah Al-Mamun told journalists that geographical context made India an important part of the BD- Bhutan agreement. Indian cooperation is required for sub-regional cooperation, as it is a major country of the area.
Recently, the motor-vehicle (passenger and cargo) agreement was signed under the framework of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN).
According to the Commerce Ministry, this agreement is not enough. A bilateral transit agreement is needed at this moment. That is why the meeting with Bhutan is taking place this time. River transit will be the main agenda of the secretary level meeting.
River dredging is needed for transit with Bhutan. The two routes fixed are the Chittagong-Chandpur-Mawa-Aricha-Sirajganj-Daikhawa route and the Mongla-Kawkhali-Barisal-Chandpur-Mawa-Aricha-Chilmari-Daikhawa route.
The shipping ministry told the commerce ministry river dredging would to be carried out during the dry season as the water level is low.
Executive Director of South Asia Network for Economic Research Institute (SANEI), Selim Raihan said that not only the World Bank, but also Asian Development Bank (ADB) appeared interested in providing loans for issues like connectivity.
Exports worth USD 19.10 million took place between Bangladesh and Bhutan during the 2013-14 fiscal. Bhutan gave duty free entry for 90 Bangladeshi items. The main items were readymade garments, melamine products, litchi, mango juice, medicines and cosmetics. Meanwhile, Bangladesh provided duty free entry for 19 Bhutanese products. Among them are fresh fruit, building materials, raw materials of cement, spices and a large stones.
