Bangladesh's biggest port, Chattogram, handles more than 90% of the country's foreign trade, while Mongla is the country's second largest sea port on the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh has granted India permission to utilize the Chattogram and Mongla ports for cargo transit and trans-shipment, which is expected to considerably reduce the time and cost required to carry products to the country's northeastern states. Bangladesh's National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a permanent transit order stating that cargo will be trans-shipped in accordance with standard operating procedures finalized by the two nations under an agreement made in 2018. In recent years, India and Bangladesh have taken a number of steps to improve connectivity, including the reopening of several cross-border railway links that had been closed since the 1965 war with Pakistan, the linking of riverine waterway systems, and the use of Bangladeshi ports for trans-shipment of goods to India's strategic northeastern region. The two countries signed the Agreement on the Use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports for Movement of Goods to and from India in October 2018, and a year later finalized the standard operating procedures for putting the agreement into effect. However, the trans-shipment of products had not begun since Bangladesh needed to finalize some customs procedures and put in place appropriate logistics, according to sources familiar with the situation. The Covid-19 crisis, on the other hand, demonstrated the efficiency of cross-border connection, with the Indian side employing cross-border train services to transport crucial supplies to Bangladesh. Over the previous year, the two parties undertook extensive trial runs for cargo transshipment to the northeastern states via Chattogram and Mongla ports. In July 2020, a shipment of iron rods and pulses was transported from Haldia port near Kolkata to Chattogram port in southeastern Bangladesh and then shipped over land to Tripura. The Bangladeshi decree allows merchandise to be moved from Chattogram or Mongla port to Agartala in Tripura via Akhaura, Dawki in Meghalaya via Tamabil, Sutarkandi in Assam via Sheola, and Srimantapur in West Bengal via Bibir Bazar. Similarly, the northeastern states can use these similar channels to bring commodities to Bangladesh's two ports. Indian operators will need to secure a five-year license from Bangladesh customs, and commodities being trans-shipped will not be allowed to stay in Bangladesh ports for more than a week. According to the directive, any products outlawed by Bangladeshi legislation cannot pass the nation. Transporters will be charged a trans-shipment cost of 30 Taka per tonne, a security fee of 100 Taka per tonne, an administrative charge of 100 Taka per tonne, and tolls for utilizing Bangladeshi roadways. See also: Indian firm bags consultancy contract for Bangladesh portCargo between NE and Chittagong port to start soon