Minister for Economic Affairs Lyonpo Loknath Sharma and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee

MoEA minister talks trade and transport in his visit to West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya

The Minister for Economic Affairs Loknath Sharma had a series of important meetings with the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya, apart form other ministers and senior officials on issues related to Bhutan’s exports and also transportation that either go to or pass through these states.

The minister first attended a ‘Waterways Conclave’ in Dibrugarh where he not only met the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, but also the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal.

The theme of the conclave was on ‘Regional Connectivity through Waterways.’

Lyonpo said the conclave is important for Bhutan as the rivers of Assam connect to Bangladesh and so it is a cost effective way for Bhutan to export items to Bangladesh like boulders.

Bhutan is already using the Dubri port, but it is not enough and so a request has been made to use the Pandu port which has been agreed to and Bhutan also wants to us the Jojighopa port which is under development and is closer to Bhutan.

A notable development in Assam is that the Bhutanese Consulate General was given land for the construction of its office by the Assam Government.

Lyonpo said that since the Consulate General (CG) office there is relatively new he could take the entire team and meet senior officials in the state which will help establish and strengthen linkages between the CG and Assamese ministers and officials.

He also said the same was done for the CG office in Kolkata which would also help improve linkages.

From Assam, Lyonpo moved to Meghalaya where he met the Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and the two main talking points were boulders and coal. In Assam Lyonpo also met the Chief of the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council which are all the areas that immediately adjoin Bhutan on the Assam side.

On boulders, Bhutanese trucks exporting boulders to Bangladesh have sometimes been held up at Meghalaya. On coal the coal quality from Meghalaya is very high quality used by cement industries in Bhutan but the Supreme Court of India had banned coal mining in the state over Environmental concerns.

Lyonpo said that Bhutan wanted to buy some coal from the left over reserves but there was some miscommunication earlier and it could not happen. Coal India Limited is helping Bhutan source coal from other places.

The minister said that the Meghalaya CM was forthcoming and there is already some improvement.

From Meghalaya the MoEA Minister headed to Kolkata for the Bengal Global Business Summit where Bhutan also had a counter.

Lyonpo said that the summit had grown bigger then his 2019 summit and despite the pandemic the state had managed to build very large exhibition and meeting halls.

One issue in West Bengal was discussing with the state counterparts on the export of areca nut, ginger, potatoes and other products. While export restrictions are from the central government Bhutan has an easier time exporting products to Assam as the West Bengal side is stricter. This issue was discussed.

Lyonpo said that in both Assam and West Bengal he not only met the political leadership, but also met the Customs people, SSB and others who handle things at the ground level and brought up Bhutan’s points on transport, trade, boulder export, agricultural exports etc and also got their inputs. He said they were all cooperative.

Lyonpo said that they discussed about parking issues and other things and he said that Bhutanese trucks cannot expect complete freedom as there are local issues.

The minister said that in his meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee she asked after His Majesty The King, Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen and HRH Gyalsey and also the Prime Minister.

He said the common sentiment among the three states was that Bhutan is a friendly country and they must help.

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