New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday jointly inaugurated three Indian-assisted development projects through video conferencing.
The three projects are the Akhaura – Agartala Cross-Border Rail Link, Khulna – Mongla Port Rail Line, and Unit – II of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant.
Speaking on the occasion, Modi said, “India’s partnership with Bangladesh is a key aspect of its neighbourhood first policy and the government is dedicated to further strengthening it”.
“There has been remarkable progress in India-Bangladesh relations and it is touching new heights” he added.
Touching upon security issues, the Prime Minister said, “For establishing peace, security and stability at the border, both nations have signed the Land Boundary Agreement which had been delayed for decades”.
Modi said, “Connectivity initiatives between India and Bangladesh proved to be a lifeline during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“India and Bangladesh also solved the maritime boundary issue and in the nine years, three new bus services have been started connecting Dhaka, Shillong, Agartala, Guwahati and Kolkata” he added.
He said, by starting the world’s biggest cruise, Ganga Vilas, between India and Bangladesh, tourism has been boosted and in the last nine years, the internal trade has tripled.
The PM said, today the inauguration of the Akhaura-Agartala rail link is a historic moment as it is the first rail link between Bangladesh and the North Eastern states of India.
In her address, Sheikh Hasina said, there is firm friendship between India and Bangladesh. She paid homage to the sacrifice of the people of India during the 1971 war of liberation.
Ms Hasina also extended greetings to Modi and the people of India for Diwali in advance.
The Akhaura-Agartala Cross-Border Rail Link project has been executed under the Government of India grant assistance of over 392 crore rupees extended to Bangladesh.
The length of the rail link is over 12 kilometers with a 6.78 kilometer Dual Gauge rail line in Bangladesh and 5.46 km in Tripura.
The Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line Project has been implemented under Government of India concessional Line of Credit with a total project cost of over 388 million US dollar.
The Unit 2 of Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant under Indian Concessional Financing Scheme loan of 1.6 billion US dollar, is a 1,320 Mega Watt Super Thermal Power Plant located in Rampal in Khulna Division of Bangladesh.
