Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to satate :-

(a) whether the Indo-Bangladesh diplomatic ties suffered a set back following Bangladesh’s refusal to allow India to use its port for trans-shipment of foodgrains to North-Eastern States ;

(b) if so, whether the Minister has taken up the matter with the Bangladesh Government during his visit to Bangladesh in the recent past;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d) on what other issues the discussions were held and outcome thereof?

ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI E. AHAMED)

(a) to (c) India has requested Bangladesh to facilitate transshipment of 10,000 MT of food grains from Kolkata to Agartala via Ashuganj in Bangladesh. The issue was raised by the Minister of External Affairs during his visit to Dhaka in February 2013 for the 2nd India- Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission meeting. The Bangladesh side noted the request and conveyed that the movement of food grains would involve use of multimodal transport, including waterways and roads, for which infrastructure requirement would have to be examined. Subsequently, a visit by a Technical Team comprising representatives of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to Bangladesh was undertaken.
(d) The 2nd Joint Consultative Commission meeting between India and Bangladesh reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations including trade and investment, security, border management, connectivity, development cooperation, art and culture, water, power, shipping, human resource development, etc. The Ministers expressed satisfaction at the significant forward movement in implementation of the decisions taken by the two sides and welcomed regular exchanges, which had helped create goodwill between the two countries.

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