BIMSTEC hails member nations for maritime communication master plan

Kolkata: The first Technical session of BIMSTEC on Saturday hailed the member countries for having a master plan to develop maritime communication among the seven nations and marked Kolkata as a centrepiece for connectivity among member nations.

The session titled—BIMSTEC: Strengthening Regional Solidarity through Transport Connectivity, saw the Chair of the session Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, Chairman, National Shipping Board, said: “I think is a new development which has happened. The BIMSTEC for the purpose of strengthening regional solidarity and transport connectivity has been active and thanks to that we have a master plan in place which has been accepted which gives the detail.”

“We have a clear master plan which covers areas of road transport, railways, ports, inland waterways and it also very familiarly touches upon the need for multi model connectivity and promoting ease of doing business and making transaction simpler and also the need for developing human resource,” Ranjan added.

Dr. Constantino Xavier, Research Fellow, Centre For Social and Economic Progress, CSEP, New Delhi said: “Kolkata should strive to become the connective capital of India. This is a city that is deeply tied to the Bay of Bengal, to the Himalayas, the Eurasian Hinterland, to the Indian Ocean region, to South East Asia, and East Asia, so certainly this is if not one among but deep most prophecies place for us to discuss connectivity and hopefully, Kolkata can reclaim its place historically over centuries as a connectivity hub

for Asia.”

“BIMSTEC is focussed on building green and resilient supply chains with integrated digital network to reduce waiting and facilitate decarbonisation, standardised and digitised documentation for trade facilitation, adoption of the Maritime Single Window for seamless movement and modernisation with emission targets for smaller vessels and tugs,” he said.