India, Bangladesh Ink Draft MoU on Passenger and Cruise Services

zoom Governments of India and Bangladesh met in New Delhi where they drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on passenger and cruise services on coastal and protocol route. The protocol will be formalized after approval of the respective governments. In a meeting held on November 16, the Secretary level delegation of India and Bangladesh also agreed on the payment of transit fee of approximately USD 2.500 per metric tonne for the transshipment operations at Ashuganj port for movement of goods to and from North-Eastern part of India. Bangladesh added that the government will not insist upon Bank Guarantee on each consignment of transit cargo, therefore reducing the transportation cost and encouraging cargo movement in this route. Additionally, the countries agreed that measures should be taken to ensure an adequate draft in upper reaches of Indo-Bangladesh protocol route in Bangladesh. With this decision, Bangladesh will submit a proposal for dredging of rivers in Bangladesh, including the ones under protocol route.