AGARTALA, Aug 25 (TIWN): Adding another milestone in the relationship between India and Bangladesh the consignment of 2,500MT of rice entered Akhaura Check post via Bangladesh Ashuganj river port on Thursday. The consignment of 2,500MT of rice arrived in 15 trucks. However the trucks were received with huge enthusiasm at Akhaura check post. It is to be mentioned here that a Bangladeshi ship carrying the consignment of 2,500 MT of rice for Tripura reached Ashuganj river port and then to Akhaura check post in Trucks on Thursday. Reportedly, the consignment for Tripura has started from Kolkata using waterways for Ashuganj port, which is about 32 Kms from Agartala by road. This is the commercial transit consignment sent for Tripura using Bangladesh. As per arrangement, the goods were unloaded at Ashuganj port and then loaded onto Bangladeshi trucks, which cross the Indo-Bangla border in Akhaura. The vehicles traveled by road to deliver the consignment Tripura. Under the transit protocol, goods would be carried from Kolkata to Ashuganj through the river route and then from Ashuganj to Agartala, through a land route.

India and Bangladesh witnessed transhipment operations on Thursday last at the Ashuganj port for Tripura to boost trade and facilitate seamless movement of goods in the landlocked region, with a cargo vessel unloading the consignment to be transported to Tripura through Bangladeshi territory.

Under a revised protocol on "Inland Water Transit and Trade" as part of a bilateral agreement signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in June last year, India and Bangladesh agreed to let each other use their territories for transiting goods to a third country.

The deal would enable Bangladesh to use Indian territory to transport goods to Nepal and Bhutan while on the other hand India would access Myanmar by crossing through Bangladesh.

Under the arrangement, vessels carrying Indian cargos unloaded at Ashuganj port, from where Bangladeshi trucks carried the goods to Tripura and was delivered at the Akhaura checkpoint.

At present, trucks from Kolkata travel around 1,600 kilometres to reach Agartala. The distance through Bangladesh would be only 500 kilometres, according to experts.

The transhipment facility — combining riverine and land routes — would now enable India to deliver goods in an estimated 10-day time and reduce transport cost by nearly 50 per cent.