Chittagong port in Bangladesh is the nearest foreign port to Kolkata port. However, there are no regular container services available between the two ports, either by the national lines of the two countries or by any other foreign flag carrier.
There have been some stray services from time to time, but nothing on regular basis. That is, an Indian exporter, planning to export anything to Bangladesh, will have to opt for a service with trans-shipment at Singapore. The same is true for a Bangladeshi exporter wanting to export something to Kolkata. Though discussions were held from time to time, for a regular shipping service, even barge service, between the two countries, it has not yielded any results. No wonder, the bulk of the bilateral trade between the two countries takes place by the land route and some by rail. But the movement through road is not without any hassle. A visit to Petrapole/Benapole border checkpost, which handles the largest volume of trade by land route between the two countries, will show the kind of problem the trade has to face. Yet for some reasons, trade by sea is not picking up.
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