India-B'desh to explore sub-regional connectivity | Economic Times

India and Bangladesh, during the Modi-Hasina Summit on Saturday, have decided to explore sub-regional connectivity initiatives that could not only lead to higher volumes of trade between eastern and northeastern India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, but also strengthen the Indo-Pacific construct.At the Summit in Dhaka on Saturday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for additional road and railway connectivity links to Nepal as well as rail links to Bhutan via Indian territory. Modi on his part sought cooperation in establishing connectivity between Guwahati and the Chattogram Port that would boost Assam’s connectivity with the Asean and beyond.The Summit was held during the Indian PM’s two-day visit to Bangladesh on the occasion of 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence and bilateral diplomatic ties. India also decided to expand its participation in Bangladesh's Roopur nuclear power plant, which Russia is building, by providing transmission lines as part of a line of credit. Bangladesh is a key element in the Indo-Russian civil nuclear partnership for third countries.To facilitate better connectivity and simplify movement of passengers and goods between the two countries, both leaders on Saturday agreed to early operationalisation of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement through expeditious signing of the Enabling MoU for Bangladesh, India, and Nepal to commence the movement of goods and passengers, with provision for Bhutan to join at a later date. “There is a very active collaboration and cooperation among India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. We spoke about the motor vehicle agreement. It is in a fairly advanced stage. We want to take it further. We are facilitating Bangladeshi exports to both these countries via India,” foreign secretary Harsh Shringla told reporters in Dhaka.Both leaders agreed to further cooperate in regional and sub-regional platforms on a priority basis. It was agreed to make the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation an even more effective vehicle for inter-regional cooperation. The two leaders also discussed sub-regional energy cooperation involving Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan.Bangladesh requested India for a favourable consideration of the new connectivity routes proposed by it, namely allowing additional land ports of Bhadrapur-Bairagi Galgalia, Biratnagar-Jogmani and Birganj-Raxaul to be connected with Banglabandha-Fulbari and Birol-Radhikapur by road as alternative routes. India was also requested to consider connecting Birol-Radhikapur and Rohanpur-Singhabad rail-interchanges with Biratnagar-Jogmani as this would help reduce the distance and cost of transportation of goods by rail from Bangladesh to Nepal. The Bangladesh side also sought rail connectivity with Bhutan through the newly inaugurated Chilahati-Haldibari route, according to a joint statement issued after the summit.