Assam meeting to highlight transport, communication links with Bangladesh

As many as eight chief ministers of India’s north-eastern states (Sikkim included) are scheduled to meet a Central minister on Thursday where they are expected to stress improving the landlocked region’s transport and communication links with Bangladesh.

India’s minister for Development of the Northeastern Region (DoNER), VK Singh, called for the meeting of all eight north-eastern state governments.

The two-day meet, slated to be held in Assam’s Guwahati, will discuss the region’s overall development.

Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had separately stressed the need to improve transport and communication networks with Bangladesh.

The chief ministers feel improvements on this front will boost the economies of their states.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is likely to raise another contentious issue -- the use of Bangladesh’s Grameenphone SIM by the Indians living along the border.

He had taken up the matter with the Home Minister earlier, too.

Quoting intelligence reports, Sangma said his government had received complaints of local businessmen received extortion calls from across the border.

This assumes significance, as military intelligence in New Delhi has credentials that rebels of the region (northeastern states) were increasingly using SIM cards of foreign countries, including international roaming, making it difficult for Indian security agencies to track them down.

Grameenphone, widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunication service provider in Bangladesh with over 46.04 million subscribers.

According to the reports, north-eastern militants are using SIM cards of Bangladesh and Myanmar mobile operators to avoid electronic surveillance by Indian intelligence and security agencies.

On several occasions, underground activists were apprehended and foreign SIM cards were seized from them.

A government official said obtaining GP SIM card was a “trouble-free procedure” in the border areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and West Bengal.

“Network of such SIM cards without international roaming is available even up to 10-20 kms across the border on the Indian side,” the intelligence official said, preferring anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Although India’s state-owned telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has provided cell phone service in the northeast, its costs compel the border people to turn to Grameenphone.