BUS SERVICE

Staff Correspondent

The communications ministry has asked the Foreign Office to send a request to New Delhi to allow use of its territory for launching a direct bus service between Dhaka and Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

The communications ministry asked the foreign ministry last week to seek the approval of the Indian authorities as both Bangladesh and landlocked Nepal would have to use Indian territory to operate the bus service, sources in the ministry said.

A draft agreement between Bangladesh and Nepal, which the communications ministry finalised in October, also says that both the countries should request the Indian government to arrange passage visas on both sides of her territory — at Indo-Bangla and Indo-Nepal borders — to facilitate movement of the peoples of the two SAARC nations.

'We have asked the foreign ministry to pursue the issue and let us know the progress made in this regard,' said a top official of the communications ministry.

Communications ministry sources said a bilateral agreement with India or a tripartite agreement involving the three countries would be required to launch the bus service.

'The fate of launching the bus service lies on how India responds to our request,' the official said.

Dhaka and Kathmandu have been discussing for around three years striking an agreement to launch the direct bus service to link the two South Asian countries by a land route. Currently, they are linked only by air.

In November 2004, the Nepalese government made a proposal to Bangladesh to operate a regular direct bus service between Kathmandu and Dhaka to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries on the basis of common interests. The distance between Dhaka and Kathmandu is about 1,200 kilometres.

According to the draft, the agreement will come into force on the date of its signing and remain valid for a period of five years, unless terminated earlier by either party by giving written notice of no less than six months in advance.

The draft agreement says the transports will be operated on a reciprocal basis and operators will be selected by both the governments, and the days of operation of the buses will be decided through mutual discussion, after assessing the frequencies, routes of operation, traffic, and other related issues. The initial arrangements will be made for a period of six months, which may be reviewed mutually.

The route of the proposed bus service and fares will be set later through discussion.

Around 5,000 tourists from Bangladesh travel to Nepal each year, mostly by air, while an almost similar number of Nepalese, including businesspersons and students, visit Bangladesh every year.

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