Trial run of India-Bangladesh waterway on Saturday

The trial run will reportedly carry a cargo of 50 metric tonnes of cement

MEA-Spokesperson-Anurag-Srivastava-ANI-Twitter Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava | ANI Twitter

India and Bangladesh will get further connected with an international waterway, linking Sonamura in Tripura with Daudkandi in Bangladesh via River Gomati. The trial run will take place on September 5, said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson, ministry of external affairs, on Thursday.

Only a few weeks ago, the two countries inaugurated an inland transport route for India via Bangladesh with a trial run of cargo from Kolkata port to Agartala in Tripura via Chattogram port in Bangladesh.

The 90km long Sonamura-Daudkandi route was included in the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) on transit and trade routes by an agreement signed between Indian high commissioner to Dhaka, Riva Ganguly, and Bangladesh shipping secretary M.D. Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury in May 2020.

The protocol was first signed in 1972, and was last renewed in 2015. It helps connect the distant northeast regions of the country via Bangladesh. Agartala, for instance, is only 200km from the sea, but is surrounded by foreign territory. Transit routes via Bangladesh reduce time and cost.

The trial run will reportedly carry a cargo of 50 metric tonnes of cement in a barge.

Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had recently visited Bangladesh and met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss various aspects of the bilateral ties between the two countries. India also assured Bangladesh that it will offer the COVID-19 vaccine on priority to Bangladesh. India is currently part of three vaccine researches.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, has also expressed readiness to hold trials of potential coronavirus vaccines being developed in India.

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