Bus services linking Bangladesh, India with Nepal, Bhutan to begin soon: Minister

New passenger and cargo bus services linking Bangladesh and India with Nepal and Bhutan will begin “soon”, Bangladesh’s foreign minister has said.

The initiative is being taken under the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement signed recently.

“This is expected to be a ‘game changer’ in this sub-region,” Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Friday at a seminar on the theme, ‘Bangladesh and India’s northeast: Exploring opportunities and mutual interests’.

The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh is organising the two-day meet in Dhaka.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) signed a motor vehicle agreement in June to lend momentum to sub-regional cooperation.

The foreign minister said several development initiatives taken during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit were expected to enhance regional connectivity, especially in the matter of the access of India’s northeastern region to the mainland.

The steps would hugely increase people-to-people contact and cross-border business, he said.

Bangladesh is expanding its diplomatic and consular presence in the Indian northeast to step up its engagements in different sectors.

It will soon set up a Deputy High Commission in the Assamese capital of Guwahati.

The Agartala Visa Office, in the state of Tripura, has already been upgraded to the status of an Assistant High Commission.

He said Bangladesh’s first assistant high commissioner would be joining there soon.

“These are small links in the bigger picture of an inter-connected region we are striving for,” he said.

Complementing India’s endeavour to develop its northeastern states would also serve Bangladesh’s own interests, the minister added.

“This carries an important security dimension which we should not lose sight of either. Security will play an important role in ensuring economic development, peace and stability in this region,” he said.

He said Bangladesh-India ties, which got underway in 1971, have matured over the years because of “mutual respect” and because the two countries “understand each other’s perspectives”.

He also recalled the role of the northeast and of West Bengal in 1971, when over 10 million Bangladeshis took shelter in the Indian states during the War of Liberation.

“Bangladesh’s relations with the north-eastern states of India, therefore, occupy an important position in overall Bangladesh-India bilateral relations”, said Ali.

The minister talked about “quality products at a cheaper price and in greater quantities to enhance the two-way trade with the northeast”.

“For instance, we are manufacturing world class electronic items, home appliances, motor cycles and other consumer goods which the people of the Indian northeast can purchase at very competitive prices.”

Win-win cooperation

The minister pointed out that the huge economic potential of the natural resources in the northeast has remained untapped.

“Due to our geographical contiguity, we are in the best position to tap those resources. Their raw materials can be imported to Bangladesh for value addition and re-exported to India or elsewhere.”

The minister remarked that this was already being done but could be amplified.

“It will be a win-win situation for us all,” he concluded.

Bangladesh has already contributed to the northeast’s power sector development by allowing transportation of ‘Over Dimensional Cargo’ for Tripura’s Palatana Power Plant through its territory, the minister noted.

Work on grid connection between Tripura and Comilla to bring 100MW electricity is in progress.

Bangladesh has also allowed transportation of foodgrains to Tripura in the same manner.

“We are also exploring joint venture investments in hydro-electric projects and the possibility of power import/exchange with the northeast,” he said, as the region has “enormous” hydroelectric potential.

“We are opening new rail and road links as well as Land Customs Stations/Land Ports with the northeast and reviving old ones.

“We are revamping trade infrastructures to connect those border points.”

Even as it observes connectivity from a regional and holistic perspective, the foreign minister said the government plans to establish Bangladesh as “a bridge” between South Asia and South-East Asia and beyond.