Neighbouring India now wants to operate Bangladesh's second-seaport Mongla where it already enjoys transhipment facility to transport cargoes to and from its landlocked north-eastern states, sources said.
The proposal is being seen as part of their expanding footprint in strategically important Asian ports.
To pursue the plan, a delegation of India Ports Global Limited (IPGL), an entity under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, visited the Mongla seaport, days before striking a long-term deal to operate Chabahar port in Iran in mid-May.
In April this year, India also secured right to operate Sittwe Port in Myanmar, which will also be managed by IPGL.
Managing Director of IPGL Sunil Mukundan led the Indian delegation to Mongla port where he expressed interest in operating the seaport. The delegation members included other high officials from the IPGL and also some officials from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
They had a meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Md Firoz Al Wahid, Chief Engineer (Mechanical & Electrical), Mongla Port Authority, and his team after visiting the jetties and other facilities of the port.
Contacted, Mr Wahid told the FE Thursday that the Indian delegation expressed interest in operating the port.
"We welcomed their offer and asked them to submit their proposal in writing," he said.
Mr Wahid said once received, the port authority would evaluate the pros and cons of the proposal before taking a decision.
However, the port authority has yet to receive a formal proposal from the IPGL authorities.
"So far we did not receive any written proposal from the Indian company," Mongla Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral Shaheen Rahman told the FE Thursday.
The IPGL Managing Director, Sunil Mukundan, told the FE correspondent over the telephone on Friday that he visited a number of Asian ports, including those in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, in recent months with the aim of expansion of business.
"But this is a government-to-government matter," he said, adding: "I am yet to submit a report on the visit to our government."
Mr Mukundan said the plan could advance only after governments of the two countries would take decision jointly. "I will write a formal letter after getting directives from the government."
In the recent past the government decided to invite foreign investments in the port sectors through appointing globally reputed port operators. Already, the newly-built Patenga Container Terminal has been handed over to Jeddah-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) for operation.
Abu Dhabi Ports Group, PSA Singapore, DP World, and local East Coast Group and its partners have lined up to invest more than US$8 billion for construction of Bay Terminal. Also, Danish port giant Maersk Group will invest $400 million in building Laldia Container Terminal in Chittagong.
The Mongla seaport presently has five jetties where both container and bulk-carrier ships are handled. Two more jetties are under construction to expand its capacity as shippers are showing increased interest in using the port after construction of the Padma Bridge that shortened its distance with the capital.
The port is set to get rail connection soon, facilitating faster and cheaper transportation of cargoes and containers.
In April last year, Bangladesh granted permanent transit and transhipment facility to India to transport cargoes to its seven-sister states by using Chittagong and Mongla seaports.
The Mongla port is strategically important with both India and China having come forward to finance the upgrading and modernisation of its facilities, including the construction of terminals.
Munshi Foyez Ahmed, a former Bangladesh ambassador to China, finds geopolitical angel behind seeking management of Mongla port by India.
He says China has investment in Payra port while Japan is constructing deep-sea port in Matarbari. "Thus India is seeking the management of Mongla port to ascertain presence in Bangladesh's port sector."
The diplomat suggests that Bangladesh should take the decision through serious consideration of overall issues. "It is not necessary to give a stake to India since China and Japan are given presence in other ports," he says.
Mr Ahmed, also a former chairman of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), says if India is awarded the management of the port, it has to be ensured that the ongoing investments from other countries are not hindered.
"That will give a wrong signal to others."
He suggests that India can be given authority for partial management instead of the port as a whole--like one or two jetties or terminals--while the other investors can be given the rest.
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