New opportunities of Assam-Bhutan trade

The formalisation of seven additional entry/exit points for trade between India and Bhutan earlier this month has huge significance for Assam. The state which shares the longest stretch of the India-Bhutan border is poised to witness increased activities of cross-border trade not just between India and Bhutan but also between Bhutan and Bangladesh through its land and river routes. The seven entry/exit points finalised at the Commerce Secretary-level talks held in New Delhi on November 3 includes Pandu and Jogighopa ports of the river Brahmaputra, Kamardwisaland route in Baksa district in Assam and Agartala Land Custom Station in Tripura. Trade between India and Bhutan has more than doubled from 484 million US dollars in 2014-15 to 1083 million USD in 2020-21 and formalisation of these trade points is expected to lead to channelizing a significant share of cross border trade between India and Bhutan and between Bhutan and Bangladesh through Assam. Currently, nearly 75% of the total trade between India and Bhutan takes place through Jaigaon Land Custom Station (LCS) in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal while Darranga Trade Centre and Hatisar LCS in Assam account for only 16% of the trade. India's first multimodal logistics park currently under construction at Jogighopa appears to have increased the level of confidence of Bhutanese traders to use the Brahmaputra river route for trade with Bangladesh. While India continues to be the largest trading partner of Bhutan accounting for 70% of Bhutan's total export, trade between Bhutan and Bangladesh is growing rapidly and Bangladesh now shares 20% of total export by the Himalayan Kingdom. Assam shares borders with both Bhutan and Bangladesh connecting the three-member countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India of the BBIN sub-regional grouping with land and river routes. Bhutanese traders have already started exporting stone aggregates to Bangladesh via the Dhubri port of the Brahmaputra through National Waterway No 2 and the India Bangladesh Protocol route. Apart from boulder and stone aggregates, Bhutan supplies huge quantities of mandarin to Bangladesh, over 80% of its total production. Bhutanese traders have preferred this new route to land route through West Bengal as transportation through waterways cut down cost by a significant margin. Once Jogighopa multimodal logistic park is ready, truckloads of Bhutanese export consignments to Bangladesh and the rest of India are expected to be routed through Jogighopa port as it is only 98 km from Bhutanese border town Gelephu connecting Hatisar LCS in Assam. Likewise, the distance between Bhutanese border town Samdrup Jongkha which connects to Darranga trade centre, and Pandu port is about 90 km and therefore operationalization of Pandu port as a new entry/exit point is expected to facilitate more trade through the Brahmaputra waterway. Return of peace to Bodoland Territorial Region is another factor boosting the confidence level of Bhutan to turn its focus on entry/exit points in Assam. The challenge, however, remains for Assam to reap the benefits of increasing trade relations between India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Unless the state tries to explore its export potential in multilateral trade, the state will remain a mere transit route. Resumption of talks on Motor Vehicle Agreement among BBIN countries on seamless movement of the vehicle in the region scheduled on Friday is expected to add fresh momentum to the multilateral engagement. India exports, tea, rice, pulses, spices, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, meat, dairy products but the share of Assam producers in this export business through the two functional entry/exit points are quite low. Several National Highways connecting the Assam-Bhutan border with National Highway 27 passing through Assam provides better connectivity for cross-border trade through the state. Assam government leveraging the operationalization of the new entry/exit points can unlock huge export potential for the state and turn these underutilized National Highways into highways of hope for landlocked areas on both sides of the border. While India and Bhutan trade relations have deepened, there has been no visible enthusiasm in Assam perhaps for the simple reason that the people are clueless about how they can be a stakeholder in it. Assam government undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the state's trade potential in deepening India-Bhutan relations will go a long way in growers, traders, entrepreneurs exploring the next-door market. Assam taking the initiative of organizing India-Bhutan buyers sellers meet can help explore current and future trade potentials and improve the export preparedness of the state. The age-old relation between the people of Bhutan and Assam provides a strong base for exploring opportunities for the state even though it was overshadowed by the turbulent situation in BTR for the past three decades. Assam government can take a cue from Bhutan of providing updated information on export and import through India-Bhutan trade point through websites of all departments of Royal Government of Bhutan which have stakes in the bilateral trade. It is high for time Assam to reimagine its engagement with Bhutan under a new cross-border trade regime.