The Hindu Business Line : New trade, transit agreement signed with Bhutan

A new agreement between India and Bhutan on "Trade, Commerce and Transit" has been signed here in place of the extant agreement on "Trade and Commerce," which was signed on February 28, 1995. The new pact provides for four more exit/entry points, including Mumbai and Chennai for sea and air routes.

The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Power, Royal Government of Bhutan, Mr Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, signed the new agreement, along with its protocol, which will be valid for a span of 10 years.

The protocol to the new pact provides for four more exit/entry points in India for the imports into and exports from Bhutan in place of the twelve-exit/entry points in the protocol to the existing agreement.

The new exit/entry points in India include two road routes, viz., Phulbari and Dawki and two sea and air routes, viz., Mumbai and Chennai.

The import/ export procedure prescribed in the protocol to the current agreement has also been simplified. In place of the extant format for Bill of entry for transit goods of Bhutan, the new protocol provides for a letter of guarantee from the Government of Bhutan against diversion of transit goods relating to Bhutan en route in India.

The new protocol also provides for movement of goods from one part of Bhutan to another through the Indian territory by giving a transit declaration in the prescribed form and in case such consignment consists of third-country origin, there has to be an undertaking by the Government of Bhutan that the same is meant for consumption in Bhutan, an official release said here.

Pacts on hydro-power

The two countries signed two agreements for strengthening cooperation in hydroelectric energy on Friday. This includes an agreement on hydroelectric energy, which lays down the framework for future cooperation between the two countries by building upon their strengths and the existing cooperation in hydropower development. The two sides also signed a Protocol to the Agreement on Purchase of Power and Tariff of the 1,020 MW Tala Hydroelectric Project. The protocol lays down commercial arrangements for the purchase of Tala power by India.