Dhaka urges Delhi to send draft framework on transit

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FE Report Dhaka has requested Delhi to send its draft framework on transittransshipment as part of Bangladesh's initiative to resume talks on signing the flagship deal which collapsed during the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit. Foreign Ministry sent the request to its Indian counterpart late last week after getting a final keynote paper from the Core Committee on transit. Foreign ministry sources said during the Indian Prime Minister's historic visit, Delhi repeatedly requested Dhaka to allow it use Chittagong and Mongla ports without having any framework deal. But Dhaka, which is yet to respond to their request, is pressing India for signing a framework deal under which both the sides would sign separate protocols. "The Core Committee on transit was rigid on its position that without having a framework agreement, India's demand for using the country's sea ports could not be met. Bangladesh should ensure its financial benefit before signing such a deal," Mojibur Rahman, Chairman Tariff Commission said. He said the Core Committee on Transit Tuesday submitted a keynote paper to the Foreign Ministry by which the committee concluded its given responsibility on preparing a report on the issue. According to the foreign ministry sources, the government now wants to form a joint working group involving experts and officials from both the countries to further advance talks on transit deal. The government also intends to form an organization on transit so that it can follow international norms and practices in accomplishing all the formalities on transit set by both the governments. Earlier, before the visit of the Indian Prime Minister, the Core Committee on transit identified around a dozen of sub-heads where Bangladesh could impose fee and set a baseline cost for transporting per tonne goods per kilometre from one part of India to other part through Bangladesh and from Bangladesh ports to Indian territories. "But no discussion was held about the issues including signing of transit protocols, routes or fees. Indian delegation was only interested to get approval from Bangladesh to use the Chittagong and Mongla ports. They even did not show interest in discussing transit modalities during Manmohan Singh's visit," a senior foreign ministry high official said preferring anonymity. Earlier, the Commerce Ministry formed a Core Committee with Tariff Commission Chairman Mujibur Rahman and asked them to submit its reports on routes and fees, and assess the volume of traffic on transit by December 25, 2010. The Core Committee submitted its report before the Indian Prime Minister's visit and set a base line fee by following international best practices. The Core Committee suggested charging India, Nepal and Bhutan minimum transit fees between 2.5 cents and 7.0 cents a tonne for every kilometre of travel depending on the mode of transport. The panel also suggest that Bangladesh should bargain with the three nations for fixing transit charges at levels higher than the base fees to reap the maximum benefit from transit. Besides, the government committee identified 22 separate routes for all three modes (railway, road and river ways) to provide transit facilities to India, Nepal and Bhutan. Among the routes seven have been identified for road, nine for rail and six others are identified for river-ways, Tariff Commission sources said. Meanwhile, the present government in the 2009-10 budget imposed Tk 10,000 and Tk 1000 respectively as fee to transport a containerper tonne of goods through Bangladesh by other countries. Following the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) Bangladesh Customs seized two Indian vessels who denied paying the fee. Later the Indian government put pressure on Bangladesh and subsequently the government suspended the fees until the issuance of fresh rules.