Staff Correspondent
Indian delegation led by Mr. T K Ramachandran, Indian Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping,
Waterways (MoPSW), visited Dhaka recently and held talks with Bangladesh delegation led by Mr. Md.
Mostafa Kamal, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Shipping.
Over the course of the visit, issues pertaining to boosting connectivity through inland waterways &
coastal shipping were discussed under three separate bilateral meeting mechanism, namely, Shipping
Secretary Level Talks, Standing Committee under the Protocol on Inland Water Transit & Trade
(PIWT&T) between India and Bangladesh, and the Inter-Governmental Committee on the use of
Chattogram and Mongla Ports for movement of goods to and from India (ACMP).
With the larger objective of improving trade and waterways connectivity between the two countries and
the region, both sides had fruitful discussions on a number of issues and made progress on issues that
include notifying transshipment ports of call to facilitate ‘Third Country’ trade, extension of existing
ports of call under PIWT&T, among others.
These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss and explore coastal and inland waterway connectivity
links between the two countries providing more diversified modes of transport for trade.
