In a historic moment, an Indian container vessel left from Krishnapatnam port for Bangladesh, on a direct route for the first time, as a part of coastal shipping agreement between both the countries. The voyage aims at developing and facilitating coastal trade between India and Bangladesh after the Narendra Modi government revived the trade agreements signed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974.

• Earlier the shipments from Indian ports being transported to Bangladesh were routed either via Colombo or Singapore.
• With the launch of the direct service, time taken for such shipments would come down from 2-5 days.
• Last Novermber, the two countries had signed a standard operating procedure for commercial cargo movement aiming at easier bilateral trade conditions.
• Various provisions were added including that the vessels from both the countries will be treated as domestic vessels upon entry.
• Krishnapatnam port is the country’s largest all-weather, deep water port situated at Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.