The cabinet yesterday approved the draft amendment to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between Bangladesh and India with a provision of passage of goods to a third country using common rivers of the two countries.

The approval came at the weekly cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. Earlier in April, the cabinet approved a revised trade deal with India under which the two nations would be able to use each other's land and water routes for sending goods to a third country, removing a long-standing barrier in regional trade.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Division Secretary (Coordination and Reforms) Nazrul Islam said under the amendment, a third country could be included in the mutually benefited arrangement for the use of waterways for commerce and passage of goods between two places in one country through the territory of the other.

He added the clause for the transport of goods to a third country would be made more specific in the future.

“Nepal and Bhutan has been targeted so it is beneficial for both sides. The clause has been updated from time to time through bilateral discussions,” he said.

The secretary said the PIWTT would be automatically renewed after every five years instead of the current three years if there is no objection from either side.

The Protocol was first signed in 1972 and since then it has been continuing without any interruption. Its current tenure expired on March 31, 2015.