Categories: World

India takes another step to revive broken rail links with Bangladesh

<p>
As the much-awaited commercial railway services commence between Haldibari in West Bengal and Chilahati located across the border in Bangladesh’s Nilphamari district on Sunday, the two countries are moving fast on resuming other critical trans-boundary rail links, especially as the measure to cope up with the post Covid revival. Last year, the Haldibari-Chilahati rail link was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina. The Haldibari-Chilahati rail link has been revived after almost 55 years.</p>
<p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="450" loading="lazy" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d114439.64461791405!2d88.64920904449015!3d26.3187628106935!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e6!4m5!1s0x39e481e474bbf407%3A0x1cfb010129341603!2sHaldibari!3m2!1d26.3355429!2d88.7827023!4m5!1s0x39e37d5ca4d4434d%3A0x6737f3ba9355b734!2sChilahati!3m2!1d26.242984!2d88.7964174!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sin!4v1627797294952!5m2!1sen!2sin" style="border:0;" width="600"></iframe></p>
<p>
Bangladesh’s vision document for Master Plan for 2041 underlined that to move to industry 4.0 a change in trade and industrial policies in tune with 21st century cross-border transactions of goods and services will be key.</p>
<p>
Foreign policy experts said that India must align itself with this mega plan.</p>
<p>
<strong>Also read:</strong>  <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/economy-news/closure-of-indo-bangladesh-borders-due-to-covid-devastates-villagers-103736.html">Closure of Indo-Bangladesh borders due to Covid devastates villagers</a></p>
<p>
“South Asia, as a region, needs to be looked at holistically if the true growth potential is to be achieved. The countries must look at increasing connectivity which in turn will boost trade further,” Bipul Chatterjee, Executive Director, CUTS International told India Narrative. “Multimodal connectivity—roads, rail and waterways – is the focus now. Connectivity in the region was good even after independence but then things changed. We need to revive that to boost development in the region,” he said</p>
<p>
The Border Haats – local markets aimed to improve livelihoods of the people living near the border areas— have already been a success.</p>
<p>
According to the World Bank, seamless transport connectivity between India and Bangladesh has the potential to increase national income by as much as 17 per cent in Bangladesh and 8 per cent in India.</p>
<p>
“Once connectivity is boosted and people to people contact increases and this in turn automatically pushes trade,” Nazneen Ahmed Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) said earlier.</p>
<p>
“While trade between India and Bangladesh has increased substantially over the last decade, it is estimated to be $10 billion below its current potential. The World Bank is supporting the Government of Bangladesh to strengthen regional and trade transit through various investments in regional road and waterways corridors, priority land ports, and digital and automated systems for trade,” Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan said in a statement.</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/03/09/seamless-transport-connectivity-can-create-major-economic-gains-for-bangladesh-and-india">Seamless Transport Connectivity Can Create Significant Economic Gains for Bangladesh and India</a></p>
<p>
Weak transport integration makes the border between Bangladesh and India thick. Crossing the India–Bangladesh border at Petrapole–Benapole, the most important border post between the two countries, takes several days. In contrast, the time to cross borders handling similar volumes of traffic in other regions of the world, including East Africa, is less than six hours, the World Bank report highlights.</p>
<p>
Progress has been made</p>
<p>
The two governments have been working on further integration. “Good progress has been made in securing energy trade agreements with India. As a result, imports of power have gone up from zero in FY2010 to 1160MW in FY2019. This is a good sign and opens up prospects for more and better energy trade with India and other neighbours including Bhutan and Nepal,” the vision document said.</p>
<p>
<strong>Also read:</strong>  <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/economy-news/chittagong-seaport-can-break-the-northeast-s-reliance-on-the-chicken-s-neck-unshackle-trade-adb-105088.html">Chittagong seaport, can break the northeast's reliance on the "chicken's neck," unshackle trade: ADB </a></p>
<p>
Analysts also said that the countries in the region have common culture and history. “These countries need to draw lessons from each other to be able to develop collectively,” said one of them.  While India’s Economic Survey underlined that India needs to learn from Bangladesh on issues relating to exports, the Bangladesh vision document said that there is considerable research ongoing in India in the context of its Housing for All by 2022 Initiative19. “Bangladesh will draw on this experience,” the document said.</p>
<p>
Importance of the Northeastern states</p>
<p>
The importance of India’s northeastern states which border several countries such as Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Nepal, has been increasing with the changing geopolitical contours amid a belligerent China. The Australian Institute of International Affairs in a study noted that although the states of Northeast India are small—physically, numerically and economically—they are increasingly gaining a significant strategic value. “With ASEAN engagement becoming a central pillar of India’s foreign policy direction, these states play an important role as the physical bridge between India and Southeast Asia,” it said.</p>
<p>
Sources in New Delhi said that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congressman, now a trusted lieutenant of Modi will play a key role in the development and integration process not just within the northeastern region but also internationally.</p>

Mahua Venkatesh

Mahua Venkatesh specialises in covering economic trends related to India and the world along with developments in South Asia.

Recent Posts

“India, Pakistan agree to cease military action on land, air and sea”: FS Vikram Misri

In a crucial step toward de-escalation, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that Pakistan's Director General…

9 hours ago

Op Sindoor strikes kill Jaish Chief Masood Azhar’s brother-in-law, the man behind IC-814 hijacking

Indian Armed Forces launched a strike on May 7, targeting nine terror infrastructure sites in…

12 hours ago

PM Modi chairs high-level meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, CDS and armed forces chiefs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security…

13 hours ago

Pakistan’s actions being seen as escalatory, provocative in nature, says Foreign Secretary Misri

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri emphasised that the actions being undertaken by Pakistan against India are…

13 hours ago

Fragments of projectile retrieved from Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer

As Pakistan continued its aggression targeting even civilian infrastructure, fragments of a projectile were retrieved…

13 hours ago

India exposes Pak propaganda war, debunks claims of damage to defence systems, air bases

India on Saturday categorically rejected Pakistan's malicious misinformation campaign, which falsely claimed the destruction of…

13 hours ago