Kaladan News

Dated: Tuesday, March 15, 2005

 

Bangladesh Sets pre-Conditions for allowing Pipeline

 

 

Chittagong, March 15: Bangladesh has set strict pre-conditions, for allowing the one-billion dollar Burma-India gas pipeline to pass through its territory, according to PTI.

 

Bangladesh wants to resolve the three issues relating to using corridor through India for importing electricity, trade with Nepal and Bhutan and reducing trade imbalance with India before signing any  (MoU) on the proposed tri-nation gas pipeline from Burma to India through Bangladesh, reports UNB.

Bangladesh has been demanding the corridor facility from India for importing electricity from Nepal and Bhutan, exporting goods to the two landlocked countries through India and for reducing trade imbalance with India as preconditions to signing such an MoU.

 “Although these three issues are not conditional to be included in the MoU, but these must be resolved when the pipeline issue will be finalized”, State Minister for Energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain of Bangladesh on 13th February said.

 

However, Ministry of External Affairs has taken a strong exception to inclusion of bilateral issues in the tripartite treaty. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on March 8 shot off a letter to Petroleum Secretary SC Tripathi stating that bilateral issues should at no cost form part of the Tripartite MoU that is to be signed by the three countries in Dhaka by this month end, according to PTI.        

“The Indian Energy Minister had already agreed to resolve the three issues simultaneously with the pipeline issue”, State Minister for Energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain added. He noted that the issues were also mentioned in the declaration of the meeting in Burma.

Mosharraf pointed out that there are two deals with India where the issues on export of goods through Indian corridor and reducing trade imbalance are included. “But there are some problems that made the deals inoperative. We want to make sure that those problems are addressed before going to sign the MoU on pipeline.”

In the same manner, the issue of import of electricity through Indian Territory could be solved, he added.

 

The official said Burma has indicated a price of 4.27 dollars per million British thermal units (mBtu) for its offshore gas which India wants to import through a pipeline passing through Bangladesh.

For more information, please contact at:

Phone: +880- 11 227 138

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.kaladanpress.org, www.kaladanpress.com