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{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Banglabandha
| native_name =
| settlement_type = Border crossing for vehicles
| image_skyline =
| imagesize =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| image_blank_emblem =
| blank_emblem_size =
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| pushpin_map = Bangladesh
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Bangladesh
| pushpin_label_position = right
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|Bangladesh}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[Divisions of Bangladesh|Division]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Rangpur Division]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Bangladesh|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Panchagarh District]]
| subdivision_type3 = 
| subdivision_name3 =
| population_total =
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| leader_title =
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| leader_title1 =
| leader_name1 =
| timezone = [[Bangladesh Standard Time|BST]]
| utc_offset = +6
| coordinates = {{coord|26.6295|N|88.4126|E|type:city_region:BD|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type =
| postal_code =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Banglabandha''' (also spelled ''Banglabandh'') is a major [[inland port]] in [[north Bengal|northern Bangladesh]] established to provide a trade link with [[India]], [[Nepal]] and [[Bhutan]].<ref name="opens">{{cite web|title=Banglabandha land port opens
|url=http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=9178|publisher=Daily News Monitoring Service|date=23 May 2003|access-date=6 September 2010}}</ref> The three nations are separated by {{convert|52|km|mi|abbr=on}} of Indian territory, known as the [[Siliguri Corridor]]. On the Indian side of the border is [[Phulbari, Jalpaiguri|Phulbari]]. Border crossing of vehicles between Phulbari and Banglabandha was inaugurated in January 2011.

==History==
Despite the geographical proximity of the borders of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, the issues of [[border control]] and territorial [[sovereignty]] have obviously prevented the establishment of direct trade routes. Banglabandha was functioning as a "Land Customs Station" (LCS) before the [[Government of Bangladesh]] decided to establish an inland port. To exploit the potential of a three-way trading post, the government of Bangladesh decided to develop an inland port, with facilities such as customs, banking, warehouses, police and immigration posts.<ref name="A">{{cite web|title=Banglabandha land port still dysfunctional on lack of Indian support|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/07/14/d4071401077.htm|author=Rafiq Hasan|work=The Daily Star|date=14 July 2004|access-date=6 September 2010}}</ref> It was designed to be Bangladesh's first "export-oriented" inland port, explicitly promoting the transport of Bangladeshi goods to Nepal, India and Bhutan; other Bangladeshi inland ports are mainly used to import goods from India.<ref name="A" /> Nepal favours such an inland port to enable access for its goods to the [[Port of Mongla|Mongla]] and [[Chittagong]] seaports.<ref name="opens" />

==Geography==
The Banglabandha land port is located at the tip of northwestern Bangladesh at {{Coord|26.6295|N|88.4126|E|format=dms|}}. It is {{convert|57|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of the [[Panchagarh Sadar Upazila|Panchagarh]] town and {{convert|7|km|mi|abbr=on}} from [[Siliguri]] and Jalpaiguri, in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]]. The Indian city of [[Darjeeling]] is {{convert|58|km|mi|abbr=on}} away to the north. [[Kankarbhitta]], the India-Nepal border transit point for third countries, is {{convert|61|km|mi|abbr=on}} away and the India-Bhutan border is {{convert|68|km|mi|abbr=on}} away from the Indo-Bangladesh boundary near which Banglabandha stands.<ref name="opens" />

==Function==
The Banglabandha port was formally inaugurated in May 2004 but has not been fully functional owing to the absence of a transit agreement for the use of Indian territory as a transport route for Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Bhutanese trade cargoes. Nepali transport trucks are not allowed entry into Bangladesh and must exchange their cargo at the "zero point" of the Indo-Bangladesh border. Indian authorities also limit transport from Nepal to Bangladesh to only two hours a day.

India has been blamed for preventing development of South Asian road connectivity. India fears China gaining access to Bangladesh and into the Bay of Bengal. As such the benefits of decades long Bangladesh initiatives to promote regional trade remains stillborn.

The existing Indo-Nepalese agreement provides for cross-border transport between the two countries, but no arrangement for use of Indian territory to link Nepal and Bangladesh.<ref name="opens" /> But in 2010, a joint communique issued by the [[Prime Minister of India]] Dr. [[Manmohan Singh]] and the Bangladesh Prime Minister [[Sheikh Hasina Wajed]] said both countries would co-operate to provide Nepalese and Bhutanese cargo access to the Bangladesh ports.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Final%20Report_Bangladesh.pdf |title=Final Report: Prefeasibility Study of Upgrading Jessore – Banpara Highway (AH41) in Bangladesh |website=Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific |publisher=United Nations |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=10 June 2019}}</ref> The commerce secretaries of Nepal and Bangladesh also held high-level talks to form an agreement resolving the transit issues between the two countries.<ref name="C">{{cite news |title=Nepal's 100 items may get duty-free entry to Bangladesh |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-244195 |work=The Daily Star |date=31 July 2012 |access-date=10 June 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Banglabandha Zero point.jpg|thumbnail|Banglabandha Zero point]]

==Border crossing for vehicles==
Border crossing of vehicles between Phulbari and Banglabandha was inaugurated in January 2011. Earlier, Nepal-Bangladesh transit through the border started in a limited way in 1997. Goods-laden trucks from both sides cross the border and unload the goods at warehouses in the other country. There is no arrangement for the crossing of human beings.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=171066 |title = Banglabandha land port opens today | publisher= The Daily Star, 22 January 2011| access-date = 28 December 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-01-22/news/28433479_1_land-port-trade-deficit-bilateral-trade|title = India, Bangladesh open new land port to boost trade | publisher= The Economic Times, 22 January 2011 | access-date = 28 December 2011 }}</ref>

Bangladesh started export of fertiliser to Nepal using the [[Rahanpur]]-[[Singhabad]] rail transit point in November 2011.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.priyo.com/business/2011/07/11/bangladesh-export-nepal-thru-i-31397.html | title = Bangladesh export to Nepal thru India resumes tomorrow | publisher = Priyo Internet Life | access-date = 12 November 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120406181147/http://news.priyo.com/business/2011/07/11/bangladesh-export-nepal-thru-i-31397.html | archive-date = 6 April 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name=mou>{{cite web | url = http://meaindia.nic.in/mystart.php?id=290018198 |title = Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding between Bangladesh and India to facilitate overland transit traffic between Bangladesh and Nepal| access-date = 8 December 2009 | last = | first = | publisher = }}</ref>

As per Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding between Bangladesh and India to facilitate overland transit traffic between Bangladesh and Nepal signed on 6 September 2011, "The existing rail route through [[Radhikapur railway station|Radhikapur Railway station]] in India and [[Biral Railway Station]] in Bangladesh which has been suspended shall be brought into operation by converting Bangladesh portion into broad gauge."<ref name=mou/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Bangladesh-India relations}}
{{India-Bangladesh land border checkpoints}}

[[Category:Bangladesh–India relations]]
[[Category:Bangladesh–India border]]
[[Category:South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]]
[[Category:Bangladesh–India border crossings]]
[[Category:Road transport in Bangladesh]]

Banglabandha - Revision history

>Citation bot at 17:34, 10 February 2021