Bangladesh may miss bus to Asian Highway

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Bangladesh’s chance of signing on to the Asian Highway Network (AHN) Agreement is fading fast as the government has been sitting idle on the issue for too long adopting a wrong policy, according to experts.

Although the communication ministry officials have been saying the country will sign on to the agreement after the proposed route the international super highway is amended, the experts say Bangladesh has no chance of amending the proposed route without becoming a member of the network.

AHN, a proposed network of 1,41,000 kilometres (km) of standard roadways crisscrossing Asian countries linking them with Europe, was conceived in 1959 with an aim to promote development of international road transport in the continent.

Bangladesh is not yet a member of the network as its successive governments failed to understand the highway’s immense potential and importance, the experts allege.

Sources in the communication ministry, however, said the main reason behind Dhaka’s reluctance to join the Asian Highway club is its reservations about giving transit to India.

They said the proposed route of the highway enters Bangladesh from India and exits back into it.

“If Dhaka ratifies the agreement with the present conditions in place, it will likely end up with providing transit facilities to India,” an official said.

The proposed route of the Asian Highway that would run through Bangladesh, starts from Benapole and ends at Tamabil via Dhaka.

Another route is also on the draft map running through Banglabandha and Rangpur to Tamabil via Dhaka.

The officials said Bangladesh strongly wants to include a route connecting Dhaka and Yangon via Teknaf. They said an initiative is also already on to develop the route and construct a road up to Myanmar border.

“We’ve refrained from signing on to the agreement as our proposed route was not considered,” Communication Secretary Dr Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star.

He said Bangladesh will struggle hard to bring an amendment to the already proposed route, for which support is needed from two of the member countries.

Contradicting him Dr M Rahmatullah, a transport policy adviser to the Transport Sector Management Reform (TSMR) Programme at the Planning Commission, said, “To bring any amendment to the proposed route or to propose a new one, a country must be a member of the network first as per the requirements of the agreement.”

He said currently Bangladesh is an observer and having that status a country has nothing to do with AHN. “Bangladesh has no say in any official meeting,” Rahmatullah said.

He said a lack of proper initiative has been holding up the signing of the agreement.

Some 28 countries have already become members of the network while 23 others have become party to the highway as their governments approved it.

“The government should prepare a summary and take it to the cabinet for approval,” said a senior communication ministry official, regretting that the crucial issue is still buried under indecisions and lack of seriousness.

Asked, what if Bangladesh does not sign, Dr Rahmatullah said, “None will come and hand over good fortune to you, if you remain isolated.”

About giving transit to India, he said Bangladesh signed on to the transnational railway network which is supposed to give its neighbour the same facility. “We should not waste time giving excuses.”

Dhaka is now trying to persuade two AHN members — Myanmar and Thailand — to recognise the proposed Dhaka–Yangon Highway as a possible route of the Asian Highway.

Bangladesh and Myanmar already signed a deal to construct a 25km road from Gundum in Cox’s Bazar to Bawlibazar in Myanmar.

Bangladesh wants that road to be part of AHN badly, as that would establish its road communication with China avoiding transit through India, said a ministry official.

“This will be a very difficult one for Bangladesh,” Rahmatullah, who is also a former director of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), said.

Bangladesh will be able to propose amendments to the route only after being a member of the network, he added.

The communication ministry officials said there has been no move at any level of the government for years regarding AHN.

Some 15 countries, including Pakistan became founding members by signing the agreement when the idea was conceived in 1959.

In 1971, Bangladesh automatically became a founding member, but its status was later lowered to an observer’s after it had missed the December 2005 deadline for signing on to the agreement.

The communication secretary however said, “It doesn’t mean that we’ve missed out on the opportunity,” adding, “We are very much in the process.”

Dr Rahmatullah however cautioned saying, Bangladesh will not be given an indefinite period of time. “If Bangladesh does not sign on to the agreement soon, it will have no choice left but to accept the present route plan to become a part of the network in the future.”

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