Why in news?

• Bangladesh’s Cabinet approved the draft of a proposed agreement with India to allow it to use the  Chittagong  and  Mongla  sea  ports  for  transporting  goods  to  and  from  the  north eastern States.
• The agreement will be effective for five years.

Importance of the Chittagong port:

• Plan prepared by the BJP-led government for the development of North Eastern states by providing the landlocked region direct access to Bangladesh’s Chittagong port instead of shipping the goods all the way from Mumbai and Chennai ports.
• North-East is a special focus area for government. So, connecting Tripura with Chittagong port which is about 90 miles.
• Through Chittagong port entire North East is connected with ocean trade.
• Right now, goods to North East are to be taken by rail and road from Mumbai or Chennai through Kolkata to Guwahati. If  there  is  a  connection  to  Chittagong port, it  will be an excellent connectivity.
• The Chittagong port is the busiest seaport on the coastline of the Bay of Bengal. North East connects with  five  countries,  Bangladesh, Bhutan  Nepal, Myanmar and China through Tibet.
• Opening up of Chittagong and Mongla ports in Bangladesh to bilateral commerce will give immense boost to relations between two countries
• The agreements seek to reduce not only the time in shipping goods but also costs.