BANGLADESH

Foreign ministry will seek clarification from other government agencies whether any subsidy is being provided for carrying goods under transshipment arrangement.

"I will ask other agencies to let me know if any subsidy is being given or not and if any subsidy is given, have they taken the exemption into consideration," foreign ministry Dipu Moni said at a press briefing at the ministry Tuesday.

She said BIWTA informed her that all regular charges applicable to domestic vessels are also applicable to transshipment carrier.

Earlier, an expert on transit issue Debapriya Bhattacharya told that all domestic vessels enjoy certain subsidy including fuel or no charge on pollution.

The trial run of transshipments was agreed upon at the renewal meeting of Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade in Goa, India and it would continue until March 2012.

Passage of Indian goods from Kolkata to Tripura through Ashuganj started from Sep 28.

The foreign minister said so far, four vessels have been permitted to carry transshipment goods through Ashuganj river port and owners of the three of them are Bangladeshis.

"We need many legal instruments to bring full transit and transshipment framework into operation and many things are related to it," she said without elaborating.

Bangladesh during the visit of prime minister Sheikh Hasina to India in 2010 agreed that Ashuganj would be declared a port of call, but Dhaka not only declared the river port as port of call but also the second transshipment point.

TEESTA AGREEMENT

The foreign minister said Teesta agreement would be signed during the tenure of the incumbent Awami League government but she did not give any date.

"Both the governments were ready to sign the Teesta interim agreement but we all know why it was not signed," she said.

When asked, before the visit of Indian premier Manmohan Singh to Dhaka why she said Teesta agreement would be signed, Moni said, "You all have record of my interview. I said I hope that the agreement would be signed."

"Both of us were ready to sign it and I did not have any official confirmation otherwise," she said.

Before any VVIP visit, lots of negotiations take place and many agreements are discussed, she said.

"Not necessarily all agreements are signed."

Asked why Bangladesh did not sign letter of exchange on transit, she said a country does not sign any particular agreement for strategic or any other reason.

JOINT BASIN MANAGEMENT

The minister said Bangladesh has requested China to have an agreement on joint management of river basin.

"We share some rivers including Brahmaputra with China, and I requested my Chinese counterpart on several occasions to consider the issue," she said.

China is positive about it and both the countries are likely to sign an agreement in future, she added.