China will offer its support to Bangladesh to develop its strategically-significant deep-sea port in Chittagong when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrives here on Wednesday on a five-day visit.

“China has already given a positive response to Bangladesh’s requests
for help in developing the port,” said an official familiar with the
initial discussions in the lead-up to Ms. Hasina’s visit.

The two countries are also expected to step up plans to build road and
railway links from Kunming, in south-western Yunnan province, to
Chittagong, which will give China greater access to the Bay of Bengal
port.

Ms. Hasina is expected to spend the weekend in Kunming, where she will
inspect the section of the highway that has already been completed on
the Chinese side, said officials.

But top of the agenda when Ms. Hasina meets Premier Wen Jiabao on
Thursday will be securing Chinese assistance to develop the $8.7-billion
port in Chittagong. “It will be a great achievement if China agrees to
use our Chittagong port, which we want to develop into a regional
commercial hub by building a deep-sea port in the Bay of Bengal,” said
Dipu Moni, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, in Dhaka on Sunday.

Addressing possible concerns in India on China’s role in developing the
port and Beijing’s growing ties with Bangladesh, Ms. Moni said: “It is
not true that if we have good relations with India, we cannot build up a
relationship with China.”

Bangladesh plans to increase the port’s handling capacity three-fold by
2055, from the present 30.5 million tonnes of cargo to 100 million
tonnes. Access to the port will be granted to India’s north-eastern
states, Nepal, Myanmar as well as to China.

“Developing the port is a very important part of China’s co-operation
with Bangladesh, and China is aware of its strategic significance,” said
Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at the
government-supported Shanghai Institute for International Studies. “So
far, the hardware is far from sufficient. But Bangladesh wants to
develop the port in a more extensive way, and wants more co-operation
with Chinese companies.”

China has looked to secure greater access to Indian Ocean ports ever
since President Hu Jintao voiced concerns of China’s “Malacca Dilemma” —
the country’s current dependence on the narrow Malacca Straits to
secure as much as 80 per cent of its oil supplies.

In November, China began construction on a 771-km pipeline that will
connect Ruili, in Yunnan, to Maday Island in Myanmar.

“While there is currently no oil pipeline running to Bangladesh, access
to Chittagong will be of greater importance in the future when this
infrastructure is put in place,” said Mr. Zhao. “With the development of
China’s transportation of goods and energy in the Indian Ocean, China
will certainly continue to attach more importance to this port.”

Brigadier (retired) Arun Sahgal of the Institute of Peace and Conflict
Studies, New Delhi, said China’s investment in the port was just the
latest of a number of “calibrated inroads” Beijing had made into the Bay
of Bengal, following its earlier investments in Sittwe, Myanmar and
developing oil and gas fields there.

“We can look at it as China assisting Bangladesh where it needs help,
but from a geo-strategic point of view, we are certainly seeing an
expanding footprint that undermines India’s salience in the South Asian
region,” he said.

The two countries are expected to sign at least three deals this week,
including for the setting up of a fertilizer factory in Bangladesh and
what will be the seventh Chinese-assisted bridge construction in the
country. Chinese companies are also expected to clinch deals on oil
exploration access off the coast of Bangladesh in talks on Friday.

Source: The Hindu

Search to find what you want

• Bangladesh, China persuaded to use Chittagong port

    Bangladesh will persuade China to use Chittagong port as a commercial outlet for its southern Yunnan province, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said on Sunday. The Bangladesh stance was announced nearly three months after Bangladesh had agreed to allow India, Nepal and Bhutan to use its two sea ports mainly Chittagong

• Bangladesh Chittagong port facility can offer to India

    Bangladesh may offer the use of its strategic Chittagong port to India for using the facility to transport goods from the landlocked northeast.  Bangladesh could offer India the facility to use its southeastern Chittagong Port after upgrading its capacity to take the extra load, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said.  “There is

• Chittagong Port Authority Orders received by 6 new straddle carriers from Terex Noell

    A contract for the supply of six Diesel-Electric Straddle Carriers was signed between Terex Noell and Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), Bangladesh, last December. Read at Chittagong Port Authority orders 6 new straddle carriers from Terex Noell

• Hazardous cargo unloaded at Ctg port still unresolved

    The meeting to resolve the problems faced by the shipping agents in getting permission to discharge hazardous cargo from the ships at Chittagong Port ended without any solution Thursday.The meeting, held at the office of Commodore Commanding of Bangladesh Navy in Chittagong, was chaired by Commodore Nizam. It was

• Fees are reduced in Chittagong

     The Bangladesh government is going to take necessary initiatives to withdraw the enhanced charges on different heads at Chittagong Port (CP) within this month to ensure unswerving business amid the global economic meltdown, the Bangladesh Financial Express reported.‘The government has decided to reduce the increased charges at CP within

• Government of Bangladesh to invest $ 700,000,000 in Mongla and Chittagong seaports

    The Government of Bangladesh is to invest around US$700 million upgrading infrastructure and facilities at the Chittagong and Mongla seaports. Read at Bangladeshi Government to invest $700 million in Mongla and Chittagong seaports

• CTG to facilitate the transit Mongla ports u0026quot to

    The country’s seaports will be developed as transit ports to facilitate shipment of Indian cargo from Chittagong and Mongla to ’seven sisters’ of India. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh during their meeting in New Delhi in January declared that the ports would be used

• Ships off-limits at Ctg port at night, count shippers loss

    Shipping companies are losing about $0.1 million every day as ships are not allowed to enter or leave the Chittagong port at night. It takes two to three days for a ship to anchor at the port, unload and load products, but if the night navigation facility is available the

• Bangladesh shipyards win $ 355 mln German treats

     Bangladesh’s leading shipbuilders have won deals worth $355 million to supply over 30 smaller ocean-going ships to shipping firms in Germany by next year end, officials said on Sunday. “German ship-owners have already ordered Bangladeshi shipbuilders to supply more than 30 ships worth 250 million euro,” Frank Meyke, German ambassador to Bangladesh

• Bangladesh shipyards win $ 355 mln German treats

     Bangladesh’s leading shipbuilders have won deals worth $355 million to supply over 30 smaller ocean-going ships to shipping firms in Germany by next year end, officials said on Sunday. “German ship-owners have already ordered Bangladeshi shipbuilders to supply more than 30 ships worth 250 million euro,” Frank Meyke, German ambassador to Bangladesh