Kakadbhitta-Fulbari-Bangalabandh Transit Route
JHAPA, Feb 24: The opening of Kakadbhitta-Panitanki-Fulbari-Bangalabandh route eighteen years ago had created euphoria among Nepali traders and businessmen.
The route offered Nepal the opportunity to use the right of a landlocked country to do trade with third country without any hassles.
The opening of the eastern trade route would have allowed Nepal to expand its trade with Bangladesh, ending a long dependency on India.
However, Nepal’s expectation of trade with Bangladesh has not realized even after 18 years since the transit route was opened.
The new agreement on transit route between Nepal and Bangladesh has renewed hopes of Nepali side. “The transit route was opened 18 years ago with great expectations. The route couldn’t be brought to operation due to weakness of the Nepali side. Also, the Nepali side couldn’t get cooperation from India and Bangladesh,” Keshav Raj Pandey, executive committee member of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said.
Pandey, who is an expert on Nepal, India and Bangladesh tripartite trade, said that Nepal was never serious toward full-fledged utilization of this route.
“It would have been better for Nepal if it was able to export products like ginger, vegetables and broom. But Nepali authorities did not make any attempt to solve complications on use of this route,” he added.
While Bangladesh has been increasing volume of products that it exports to Nepal, Nepali traders say that Nepal has not been able to increase its export to Bangladesh due to problems that Nepali side face in the India-Bangladesh border. Containers from Nepal had to be unloaded in open grounds. Similarly, traders were required to unload agricultural products that Nepal exports to India one kilometer away from the godown of Bangladesh. Nepali side believes that it was mainly due to reluctance of the Indian side to resolve the problem.
“Such hassles have been reduced now. But India was never serious toward resolving such problems. That’s why Nepal was never able to reap benefits from this transit route,” an official of Mechi Customs Office said.
Traders and businessmen are encouraged with the recent exchange of letters between India and Nepal for operationalization of the transit route. They hope that the agreement would result in simplification of modalities for traffic of goods between Nepal and Bangladesh while transiting through India. However, they are skeptic about implementation of the agreement.
“The agreement signed during Prime Minister’s visit deserves appreciation. However, agreement alone is not enough. It should come into implementation too,” added Pandey.
Mechi Custom Agents’ Association President Mohan Niraula also told Republica that the agreement should be made binding for both India and Nepal for its effective implementation. He also said there was a need to build necessary trade infrastructure along the route.