India eyes 5000 km eastern regional waterways grid

Subject : International Relations

Section: Places in news

Concept :

Eyeing a greater presence along the South East Asian trade route, and countering China’s dominance in the region, India is engaging with its two key neighbours, Myanmar and Bangladesh, pushing for better port and waterways connectivity across a 5,000 km – odd grid.

Eastern Waterways Grid

It aims to provide seamless connectivity between National Waterway-1 (NW-1) and NW-2 through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes.
The Eastern Waterways Grid will link the rivers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.
This grid will interlinking their rivers and connect them with roads and rail to reach the last mile.
Eastern Waterways Grid is a project undertaken by the Union Government under its ‘Act East Policy‘.
This grid will also develop an economic corridor of 4,200 km of waterways and coastal shipping for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and the North-Eastern States.
The Grid builds upon the existing network of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Routes (IBP) – a series of waterways which both countries can use as transit routes or to trade with each other.

What is IBP route?

The Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh allows mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways for movement of goods between the two countries by vessels of both countries. This Protocol was first signed in 1972 and last renewed in 2015.
Under this Protocol, Inland vessels / cruises of one country can ply on the designated waterway routes of another country.
Under this protocol in India: North Eastern States are connected with eastern part of India through river Brahmaputra (NW-2) and river Barak (NW-16) North Eastern States are connected with Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghli river system (NW-1) via Sundarbans (NW-97) .
IBP routes are navigable routes for movement of shipping vessels that have been earmarked under the PIWTT.
The IBP route extends from Kolkata (India) on NW-1 to Silghat (Assam) on NW-2 (River Brahmaputra) and Karimganj (Assam) on NW-16 (River Barak).