Tripura MP meets Swaraj on Bangladesh

In a stark contrast to Assam's furious opposition for relaxing visa regime for Bangladesh nationals visiting India, Tripura is batting for them.

Agartala correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 July 2014, 02:30 PM
Updated : 15 July 2014, 07:08 PM

Tripura's Lok Sabha MP Jitendra Chaudhury has met Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and urged her to relax the visa regime for Bangladeshis intending to visit India.

Chaudhury lauded the new government for agreeing to issue five year multiple entry visas for Bangladeshis below 13 and above 65 intending to visit India.

The Indian ministry for external affairs had planned to allow visa free travel for this age groups but had to back after furious protests from Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, the BJP's Assam unit and other regional parties in the state.

"We want more travellers from Bangladesh to come to our states and we want relaxed visa regime for them. Students , businesspeople, tourists -- we want them all from Bangladesh and if the visas are easy to get, they will come," said Chaudhury, while speaking to local website Tripura Infoway.
Many Tripura-based institutes like ICFAI (specialising in finance and business) are trying to woo students from Bangladesh , who they think may feel somewhat uncomfortable in mainland Indian states like Maharastra specially after the murder of a Muslim IT specialist at Pune.
"Tripura is like home for Bangladeshis-- same language, same food, total security," says ICFAI's Ajay Pathak. " And Agartala, where we are based, is barely three-four hours from all major cities of Bangladesh like Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet."
Many Indian healthcare majors are also planning to set up speciality hospitals to attract patients from Bangladesh.
Business has grown rapidly between Tripura and Bangladesh in the last three to four years.
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has adopted an open-door policy for Bangladesh capital to invest in his state during the recent Tripura Conclave, where former foreign minister Dipu Moni delivered the keynote address.
Speakers at the Conclave stressed on the need for Tripura to improve its relations with Bangladesh and some said Assam's animosity towards Bangladesh should not influence Tripura's policy towards the neighbouring country in any way.
That was the spirit conveyed by MP Jiten Chaudhury to foreign minister Sushma Swaraj when he met her this week.
Chaudhury , a former industry and forest minister of Tripura, has visited Bangladesh several times and is known for his close relations with its political and business leaders.