Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli&’s visit has not only helped bring the warmth back in India-Nepal ties, but has also helped landlocked Nepal secure transit to Bangladesh by road and rail and also for using Vishakhapatnam port to boost trade with third countries.

Following the meeting between Oli and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday, the two sides exchanged Letters of Exchange on Transit Routes: (i) Transit between Nepal and Bangladesh through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor (ii) Operationalisation of Vishakhapatnam Port.

Both sides also exchanged Letters of Exchange on Rail Transport for (i) Rail transport to/from Vishakhapatnam (ii) Rail transit facility through Singhabad for Nepal&’s Trade with and through Bangladesh.

The transit agreement will boost Nepal&’s third country trade, especially by using the dry port at Birgunj, on the Nepal side of the Ruxaul border with India.

The distance between Kakarvitta Land Customs Station (LCS) in Nepal and Banglabandha LCS of Bangladesh is around 54 km. The Siliguri Corridor of India is situated in between the two LCSs.

The Kakarvitta point has Panitanki LCS on the Indian side, while it is Phulbari on the Indian side of the Banglabandha LCS.

Another major point in the agreement is for Nepal to use the rail transit through the Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh) link for trade with Bangladesh and third countries.

The railway transit will help connect Birgunj and Biratnagar (Jogbani) in Nepal with Bangladesh via the Singhabad-Rohanpur interchange point, which is the nearest and most economical route.

The rail distance between Birgunj and Dhaka is over 950 km, while from Biratnagar it is 535 km. The distance between Birgunj and Chittagong, a major port in Bangladesh, is 1,148 km, while from Biratnagar it is 843 km.

The rail distance between Birgunj to Kolkata is 700 km, while to Haldia in West Bengal it is over 800 km. Likewise, the rail distance from Biratnagar to Kolkata is 600 km and to Haldia it is 708 km.

Operationalisation of Vishakhapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh and for rail transport to and from Vishakhapatnam would also help Nepal boost its trade with third countries.

Nepal had been pushing for being allowed to use Visakhapatnam Port as an alternative trade gateway.

Nepal&’s foreign trade has been dependent solely on the Haldia port so far.

In 2009, India had approved Visakhapatnam port as a second shipment point for handling container cargo from Nepal.

The opening of Vishakhapatnam port is expected to make Nepal’s third country trade faster as well as cost efficient.

The rail distance between Birgunj and Vishakhapatnam port is double compared to that between Birgunj and Haldia port. But Nepal has been keen to use Vishakapatnam port with its modern facilities.

With cargo trains coming to and from the Birgunj dry port directly from Vishakhapatnam, the new port is expected to make trade for Nepal cheaper, especially bulk trade.