Bangladesh and India, two close neighbours in South Asia, lack seamless multimodal connectivity despite having potential of land and waterway networks through sharing of common borders and rivers. Apart from the politically contentious issues between the two countries like water dispute, border killings and illegal migration, as a part of economic integration and sub-regional connectivity, the two countries have undertaken some notable initiatives not only to boost trans-border trade, but also to enhance ties among the people of the two countries that in return have sought to revitalise Bangladesh-India relations.
One of the most recent initiatives is the historic exchange of enclaves paving the way for settlement of long-standing land-boundary disputes between the two countries following the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangladesh on June 6-7, 2015.
The signing of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) motor vehicles agreement with a view to intensifying sub-regional cooperation in the areas of power sector, water resources, trade, transit, and connectivity reinforces the prospect of cross-border movement of vehicles among these four countries. Once the transport connectivity is built, it will largely meet Bangladesh's long-desired demand to be connected with neighbouring Nepal and Bhutan. It is important, in this regard, to note that the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India (MBI) tri-nation gas pipeline project from the Sittwe field in southern Myanmar to West Bengal via Tripura, Mizoram, and Bangladesh was not successful only due to Delhi's disagreement on Dhaka's proposal for getting greater transit facilities through India to Nepal and Bhutan.
A noteworthy milestone of Indo-Bangladesh connectivity can also be examined from the signing of a Joint Communiqué between India and Bangladesh in New Delhi on January 12, 2010. The two countries agreed on construction of Akhaura-Agartala rail link, use of Chittagong and Mongla sea ports by India, Nepal, and Bhutan as well as facilitation of Indo-Bangladesh trade along the inland water transport (IWT) routes.
Consequently, the 15-kilometre Agartala-Akhaura rail link stretching from Agartala (India) to Gangasagar, Akhaura (Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh) is expected to be completed in 2017. This was further emphasised during the India-Bangladesh second Joint Consultative Commission Meeting on February 16, 2013 when a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the railway connectivity was signed. Therefore, after West Bengal, Tripura in north-east Indian state will be connected to Bangladesh via railway link that will be beneficial for both the countries to be facilitated by cross-border trade and people-to-people contacts. The railway link is also crucial as the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) network crosses along this route. Given this background, a 350 km rail link from Jiribam (India) to Moreh (India-Myanmar border) is under construction; while Bangladesh can get benefits from this railway linkage.
Along with the railway connectivity, both countries have also agreed on opening of Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati bus service across the Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil/-Dowki-Shillong-Guwahati routes. This will improve overland connectivity between Bangladesh and India's north-eastern region. In addition, the agreement on Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service and its Protocol will enhance people-to-people connectivity between Bangladesh with two sides of India, West Bengal and north-east India, while India will get connected to its north-eastern part as well. The prime ministers of the two countries have already flagged off the bus services across these routes.
Hence, the opening up of four new 'Border Haats' along the Bangladesh-Meghalaya border including Nalikota-Saidabad, Shibbari-Bhuyapara and Rinku-Baganbari as well as across the Bangladesh-Tripura border, such as, Kamlasagar-Tarapur, Srinagar-Purbomodhugram, Palbasti-Paschim Botuli, and Kamalpur-Kurmaghat has made significant landmark in the progress of overland trade connectivity between the two countries. Â
Regarding waterway connectivity, Bangladesh and India renewed the Protocol on Inland Water Transport and Trade of 1999 whereas India agreed to provide transit facilities for landlocked Nepal and Bhutan to get access to Chittagong and Mongla ports. In this regard, Bangladesh's Prime Minster, Sheikh Hasina, has already welcomed neighbouring countries including India, Nepal, and Bhutan to take part in modernisation of Chittagong port and planned building of a deep sea port at Sonadia Island for potential use of these ports. The access to Chittagong and Mongla ports is not only crucial for India due to its congested Kolkata port and landlocked Nepal and Bhutan, but is also essential for enhanced maritime trade of Bangladesh with these countries.
In the age of globalisation, the significance of multimodal connectivity among regional, inter-regional, and sub-regional countries can hardly be overemphasised. For example, given the historical significance of Tea Horse Road and Ancient Silk Road, China has already developed 'One-Belt, One-Road' project, 21st Century Maritime Silk Route project, Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) cooperation, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and many other mega projects considering the geo-strategic significance of Yunnan Province with regard to the possibility of having multimodal connectivity with rest of the world.
Likewise, India has also undertaken some initiatives to intensify its transport and sea connectivity with her neighbouring countries such as Kaladan Multimodal Transport Corridor, India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, Mekong-India Economic Corridor, and India-Myanmar Railway Project etc.
As far as the geo-strategic position of land-locked north-east India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China's Yunnan Province is concerned, Bangladesh is obviously at the centre of seamless connectivity in the region. Given this context, being geo-strategically located between South Asia and Southeast Asia, Bangladesh also needs to make proper utilisation of its geographic position with improved multimodal road, water, and air linkages with her neighbours. However, the bottlenecks to seamless connectivity barriers, e.g. missing transport links, poor road conditions and transit facilitation need to be addressed through consensus among these countries.
The writer is visiting Research Fellow, Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences (YASS), Kunming, China.
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