Secretary-level meetings between the Shipping Ministries of Bangladesh and India will be held at the InterContinental Dhaka later this week.

The meeting of the standing committee on “Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade” (PIWTT) affairs will be held on Wednesday (Dec 4), while the secretary level and inter-governmental committee meeting will take place the next day, reports UNB.

Secretary of Shipping Md Abdus Samad on behalf of Bangladesh and Indian Secretary of Shipping Gopal Krishna would take part in the meetings, said a media release on Monday (Dec 2).

The last secretary level meeting between the countries was held at New Delhi in 2018.

Each of the countries has six “ports of call” (places where ships make a stop during journey).

Bangladesh has ports of call at Narayanganj, Khulna, Mongla, Sirajganj, Ashuganj and Pangao while India has them at Kolkata, Haldia, Karimganj, Pandu, Silghat and Dhubri.

The two countries have a total of 16 bunkering points (supply of fuel for ships).

Bangladesh has bunkering points at Shekbaria, Mongla, Khulna, Barishal, Narayanganj, Sirajganj and Chilmari and India has at Kolkata, Budge Budge, Haldia, Namkhana, Karimganj, Dhubri, Jogighopa and Pandu.

The countries share eight outgoing and incoming naval routes.

In the years ahead, provided the two countries remain committed to a cooperative framework, the water-based navigation systems of the two countries are expected to further integrate.