India seeks Bangladesh waterways for cruise

India has proposed to use Bangladesh waterways for operation of tourist vessels between Kolkata and Dhaka, officials at the shipping ministry said.

New Delhi has sought the facility referring to the existing inland water transit and trade protocol between the two countries.

However, Dhaka is yet to respond positively to the Indian proposal in view of limits of the protocol which allows transportation of goods only.

According to the proposal, MV Sukapa, a cruise vessel, is willing to carry passengers to Guwahati in Indian state of Assam using Bangladeshi river routes.

Journey Plus, a tour operator of Bangladesh, submitted a proposal to Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) in June last year, seeking permission for operation of MV Sukapa.

The Indian authorities insisted on implementing the proposal, at the Indo-Bangladesh joint standing committee meeting held in New Delhi on 9-10 February.

The Bangladesh officials expressed reservation about the proposal although they assured their Indian counterparts of considering the matter.

The officials said the protocol only permits transportation of good, not carrying passengers.

The Journey Plus proposed that MV Sukapa wants to carry passengers from Kalkata to Dhaka initially before taking another round of passengers to Assam. It even sought permission for trial of the cruise.

The shipping ministry communicated the matter with home, foreign and tourism ministries. The home ministry, however, raised concern about complications relating to immigration. The project is on hold ever since.

Toufiq Rahman, CEO of Journey Plus, talked to Prothom Alo about the demand for travel through waterways in this part of the world due the scenic beauty. “All kinds of passages should be kept open for communications in this era (of globalisation),” he added.

Rafiqul Islam, additional secretary at the shipping ministry, led the Bangladeshi delegation while the Indian team was led by CV Singh, advisor at the Indian shipping ministry.

Rafiqul Islam said to Prothom Alo, “Only the government has the authority to decide on whether the Indian tourist cruises should be allowed to operate on our waterways.”

Source: Prothom-alo