In order to enhance connectivity between the two countries, the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Trade and Transit 1991 will be amended soon to include waterways as a mode of cargo transport, as currently the treaty allows movement only by road and rail between the two nations, said Mr Pravir Pandey, Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India, as per a report.
Currently, the cargo that comes to Kolkata or Vizag has to go by road or rail to Nepal. This is because the trade treaty recognises only these two modes of transport. The clause is being amended to include waterways.
As of now, the routes identified are Kolkata-Sahebganj by waterway and then to Nepal’s Biratnagar by road; Kolkata-Kalughat near Patna by waterway and then to Birgunj by road; and Kolkata-Varanasi by waterway and then to either Nepalganj or Mahendra Nagar by road.
Other than this, the Nepal government has also requested India to explore whether the Gandaki river could be used as a waterway right up to the border of the two countries, said the report.
