Dhaka: Bangladesh has started the process
for opening a new trade route to Nepal by offering Kathmandu
the use of its Mongla port for export of goods to a third
country, amid indications that India would allow the
landlocked nation use of its territory for transporting goods
to Dhaka.
Ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's key visit to
India next month, Bangladesh has sought to reactivate a 1976
transit treaty allowing Nepal to use its southwestern Mongla
port for export of goods to a third country, a news report
said today.
Dhaka has sent a draft deal to Kathmandu as the two
countries were ready to sign the pact which will allow
goods-laden trucks and trains to enter each others' territory.
"Our ministry has drafted a deal to make the transit
trade operational with Nepal," officials of the Communication
Ministry were quoted as saying by private bdnews24 news
agency.
He said the proposal was sent as India was expected to
give landlocked Nepal the long-awaited approval on using a
patch of territory as transit for transporting goods to
Bangladesh.
The report came as railway sources earlier said they
had sent a draft of a rail transit agreement involving
Bangladesh, India and Nepal to Indian authorities for
finalisation before its signing during Hasina's New Delhi
visit.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 23, 2009, 18:32