Editorial
The economics of transit
Make the core committee report public
Having gone through a patchy period of ups and downs for sometime, Bangladesh-India relations at the moment are poised for a positive trend, which we feel must be sustained. Towards that end there is a very strong rationale for the two countries to develop an environment in mutual dealings that will bring about positive outcomes for both the parties in equal measure, with perhaps a slight tilt towards Bangladesh since it has more severe development challenges to overcome.
And no one would disagree that in this arrangement of a win-win situation for both the countries trade is a vital component and will be central to the entire gamut of our relationship. And, in turn, transit becomes the core issue for the two countries to address.
It must be emphasised that Bangladesh has been rather more open to the idea of transit, and indeed to regional connectivity now more than ever before. There is a need for us to look at the issue rather more dispassionately than we have been inclined to in the past. And in this regard we would do well not to look at the past provisos like the trade agreement of 1974 and all those that followed therefrom, but look anew at the issue.
The point that we want to stress here is that our geographical position accords us an endowment that we can take advantage of for reaping economic benefits. However, before everything else we must work out the econometrics of transit. And this was the predominant view underlining the dialogue recently on the issue of transit and transshipment to India. We feel the planners must work out the cost benefit analysis of operationalising transit and devise a comprehensive framework.
And in this context there are a few things that should be addressed sequentially. The legal framework for transit should be prepared based on which the regulatory directives would emanate. But these would be meaningless unless we addressed the issues of infrastructure and determined the charges first.
We understand that the econometrics of transit have been worked out by the core committee. The government should make it public immediately, both for transparency and public knowledge.
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