India discusses hydel project development with neighbours

India and three of its neighbours—Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal—on Saturday agreed to explore jointly developing hydel projects in any of the four countries.

They also sought to push trilateral or quadrilateral cooperation in the sub-region through the move.

New Delhi on Friday and Saturday hosted the second round of meetings of joint working groups constituted by India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal to explore sub-regional cooperation on water resource management, and connectivity and transit of power, particularly hydropower. 

The Joint Working Group on Water Resources Management and Power/Hydropower reviewed the existing cooperation in this sector, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday. 

The officials representing Dhaka, New Delhi, Thimphu and Kathmandu discussed scope for power trade and inter-grid connectivity, as well as potential for closer cooperation in future power projects. 

They agreed on joint efforts to explore harnessing of water resources, including hydropower, and power from other sources available in the sub-region. 

“It was also agreed to exchange lists of potential future hydropower or power projects to be undertaken jointly involving at least three countries on equitable basis. Exchange of experiences and best practices in other areas of the power sector among were also discussed,” said the MEA press release. 

The panel took stock of the existing bilateral arrangements between the four countries on data sharing for flood forecasting and ways of improving it. 

The officials reviewed existing arrangements for connectivity and transit within the four countries. It agreed on the significance of BBIN agreements to enable movement of motor vehicles and railways. The meeting exchanged ideas on potential cargo (both roads and railways) and bus routes involving at least three countries, in addition to the existing bilateral routes, and also agreed to share suggestions in this regard. 

It was also decided to explore the possibility of using multi-modal transport to meet commercial and tourist needs.

The panel deliberated on the need for trade facilitation at land border stations for effective sub-regional connectivity, and exchanged views on usefulness of sharing trade infrastructure at land border stations and harmonisation of customs procedures.

The Indian delegation included MEA Joint Secretary (North) Abhay Thakur and Joint Secretary (BM) Sripriya Ranganathan.