Duty free transit of cargo to Indian state of Tripura

The government has allowed transit of Indian cargo to the Indian state of Tripura although people are not aware of the details of such trnaportation. A number of ships with heavy equipment have already unloaded cargo at Ashuganj. These equipments are on way to Tripura. Another 82 ships will be arriving to Asuganj from Kolkata. The authorities in Bangladesh are refraining from making any comment about this. Bangladesh is not collecting any duty from this cargo. No authority is reportedly examining the cargo. The ships are carrying overdimensional cargo. This cargo is to be taken to Tripura via Agartala land-port. The equipment have stuck up in a floating bridge while crossing a canal. This resulted in traffic jam on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. Once the road repair is completed, the cargo will restart again. The trailers with heavy equipment is likely to damage the bridges and culverts. There was strict security in carrying the goods. Sixteen road diversions have been built to facilitate the movement of heavy cargo. Bangladesh has already signed agreement with India last May about the transit of the cargo in question. Roads are being widened around Akhaura. Tripura Power Company Ltd. is building a big combined cycle tribune power plant About 90 different kinds of heavy equipment are being brought to Tripura. People at Ashugang port can not say anything about this equipment. Informed citizens of the country have expressed concern about the facility given to India in transporting overdimensional cargo without any reciprocal benefit. No country normally allows this kind of facility to another country without any duty. People are in the dark under what arrangement this kind of transit has been given to our neighbour. Our sovereignty might have been compromised because of this deal. There was lot of discussion on the gains out of transit to be given to India. Top connectivity consultant of the Plannig Commission said on earlier occasions that Bangladesh would become a transport hub,huge foreign exchange could be earned and this would also generate plenty of employment opportunities .The connectivity expert may now explain the benefits we are gaining from transit of Indian cargo via Asuganj to Tripura. It would be appropriate for him to defend his position before the nation. Bangladesh is giving this special advantage to India on the basis of one-way concession. Indian goods are moving to Tripura as if goods are travelling from one place to another in such a fashion that it is their own territory. In order to build infrastructure for transportation of Indian goods, Bangladesh has to bear heavy expenditure and burden of Indian loan. According to the experta, an amount of Tk 240 billion (24,000) crores will have to be spent in next five yeats. In return, our gain is zero. This matter has not been discussed in parliament. The prime minister has done this on her own responsibility. The matter is so important that it may be placed before the nation in a referendum.. The Bangladesh Finance Minister has reportedly said that there can not be any fee for transit of Indian cargo passing through Bangladesh. The reasons for this are unknown. We may have to refer the case to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for a ruling on this matter. Govt. can not take an arbitrary decision in the matter. We would like to know the views of our connectivity expert on this issue. With his ESCAP bagkground, he should be able to give his considered opinion. At least, theoretically it can be argued that India may transport military equipment to Tripura for use against the rebels in its north eastern states. There may be security risk involed in the matter, in the sense that the rebels may retaliate against Bangladesh. This aspect can not be ruled out altogether. This has to be looked into carefully. .Bangladesh must not be involved in the internal fighting in India. The handover of ULFA leaders to India would be cause of annoyance to the freedom fighters in Indian north eastern states. The connectivity expert mentioned above published an article on connectivity in a national English daily on March 28, in which he showed benefits to Bangladesh as follows:when Bangladesh will allow regional freight traffic from India, Nepal and Bhutan to transit across its territory, following categories of benefits could accrue, depending on the routes and facilities used: 1)transport charges (interms of rail freight charges or road transport or water tranport charges), 2)port charges, 3)border crossing charges at land ports for transit traffic, 4)toll charges for major bridge, ferry charges, and 5)transit fee to be charged particularly when there are large savings in travel time and transport cost, per ton of cargo, as traffic start moving through shorter route vis a vis the original longer route. This would make it a win-win situation for both India and Bangladesh. The share is usually decided through discussions between the countries involved. Currently India is transing goods to Tripura via Ashuganj but Bangladesh is not getting any duty or charge from India. The article has not mentioned that this cargo is exempt from duty. There appears to be contradiction between theory and practice. The article under mention, therefore, gives a wrong signal. The connectivity expert should come up with explanation. The connectivity expert has mentioned that in order to meet the coomitment made by Bangladesh, a number of projects are required to be implemented on a priority basis. Currently Bangladesh transport system is not fully geared to carry regional transit. Therefore, pressure is on Bangladesh for compliance. A detailed analysis has been carried out of the various investment needed to improve the trasport system to carry Indian goods. India has given loan io implement such projects. We shall be incurring debt to build facility to carry Indian goods for which no fees can be charged. This is the position on the ground. The article, written by the connectivity expert, gives the responsibility to Bangladesh to carry out so many obligations. But can he give any assurance for corresponding return.? The writer is an economist and columnist. He can be reached at e-mail: syedjamaluddin22@yahoo.com