PM, Sheikh Hasina inaugurate key rail link, two other projects

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday jointly inaugurated three projects via virtual mode, including a key rail link between Tripura’s Nischintapur and Gangasagar in the neighbouring country.

The other two projects inaugurated by Modi and Hasina are the 65-km Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line, and Unit 2 of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant in Bangladesh’s Rampal.

The cross-border rail project in Tripura’s capital Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh is expected to boost cross-border trade, and significantly reduce the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka.

Modi said inauguration of the Agartala-Akhaura Cross Border Rail Link was a “historic” moment. “This is the first rail link between the northeast and Bangladesh,” he said.

All the three projects are India-assisted development initiatives.

The trial run of the 12.24-km rail project (6.78 km dual gauge line in Bangladesh and 5.46 km in Tripura) was completed on Monday, after a train from Gangasagar railway station in Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh arrived at Nischintapur railway station.

“It is a matter of joy that we have connected once again to celebrate the success of the India-Bangladesh cooperation. In the past nine years, the work we have done together has not happened in decades,” Modi said in an interaction with Hasina over video-conferencing.

Hasina said the three projects would further strengthen the infrastructure development collaboration between the two countries.

She also said that mutual efforts have helped ensure peace and stability in the northeast region of India, and establish connectivity between many Indian states with its northeast part through Chattogram and Mongla Ports.

India had extended Rs 392.52 crore as grant assistance to Bangladesh for the Agartala-Akhaura Cross Border Rail Link, officials said.

Meanwhile, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said the rail project would enable the state to become the gateway to other northeastern states for trade, connectivity and tourism, and reduce the distance between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka from 1,600 km to 500 km.