A report alleges that three Bangladesh-India agreements signed or revised during the Awami League period gave India broad access to Bangladesh’s ports, waterways and land routes. The agreements are the Agreement on the Use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports for Movement of Goods to and from India, the Coastal Shipping Agreement, and the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade. The report says Chattogram, Mongla, Payra and Pangaon can be used under these arrangements, while concerns remain about Bangladesh’s economic, security and strategic gains.

The Chattogram-Mongla port agreement was signed on October 25, 2018, after a June 6, 2015 memorandum, with an implementation procedure signed on October 5, 2019. A trial container shipment travelled from Kolkata to Agartala via Chattogram in 2020. Critics cited in the report say provisions on port priority, charges, customs inspections and unclear cargo-sharing terms disproportionately favour India.

The water transit protocol, first concluded in 1972 and amended in 2015, renews automatically every five years. The report says it was renewed in 2020 and 2025 without fresh negotiations. Commentators called for the agreements to be made public, reviewed in parliament and reassessed according to Bangladesh’s national interests.