The connectivity between Bangladesh and India gets a boost with the resuming of a rail route which was snapped in 1965.
Indian Railways dispatched the first freight train loaded with stones from Damdim Station of Northeast Frontier Railway to Bangladesh on Sunday, putting the Haldibari-Chilahati route back to operation.
After the partition in 1947, seven rail links were operational between India and the then East Pakistan till 1965 and the Haldibari-Chilahati rail link is one those routes.
Apart from the Haldibari-Chilahati rail link, currently, there are four operational rail links between India and Bangladesh - Petrapole (India)-Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede (India)–Darshana (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh) and Radhikapur (India)– Birol (Bangladesh).
“The leadership of both India and Bangladesh are committed to reviving all the pre-1965 railway links between the two countries. Hence, the restoration work was undertaken by the railways of both the countries to revive this rail link,” the High Commission said.
After the restoration, this railway link between Haldibari (India) and Chilahati (Bangladesh) was jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of India and of Bangladesh during the PM level virtual bilateral summit on December 17 last year.
The Haldibari – Chilahati rail link is the 5th rail link between India and Bangladesh being made operational from 1st August 2021.
The commodities that can be exported from India to Bangladesh through this rail route include Stones and Boulders, Food Grain, Fresh Fruits, Chemical Fertilizer, Onion, Chilies, Garlic, Ginger, Fly Ash, Clay, Lime Stone, Wood & Timber etc. From Bangladesh to India all exportable commodities are permitted.
“This rail link coming into operation will strengthen India-Bangladesh Rail Connectivity and bilateral trade. It will also enhance rail network accessibility to the main ports and dry ports to support the growth in regional trade and to encourage economic and social development of the region,” the High Commission said.
Bangladesh and India relation is now said to be at its best.
The year 2021, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has been witnessing high level engagements at political and official levels.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh on a state visit from 26 to 27 March to join the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh, the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh.
Both the governments are undertaking various measures to restore the pre-1965 rail links and other connectivity links that existed between India and Bangladesh.
The Government of India handed over 10 broad guage diesel locomotives as part of grant assistance to Bangladesh Railways in a virtual event joined by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and their Bangladeshi counterparts Dr A K Abdul Momen and Md Nurul Islam Sujon on 27 July 2020.
During the visit of PM Hasina to New Delhi in October 2019, the two governments decided to commence Dhaka-Siliguri-Gangtok-Dhaka and Dhaka-Siliguri-Darjeeling-Dhaka bus service to enhance people to people contacts between both the countries and the trail run of Dhaka-Siliguri-Gangtok-Dhaka was also held in December 2019.
Feni Bridge (Maitree Setu) connecting LCS Subroom (Tripura) and LCS Ramgarh (Bangladesh) has been jointly inaugurated on a virtual platform by both the Prime Ministers on 09 March 2021 and this will significantly improve connectivity with Bangladesh.
Second addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) was signed in May 2020 for including two new India-Bangladesh Protocol Routes (Sonamura-Daudkandi on river Gomti and extension of Dhulia to Godagiri up to Aricha on river Padma), five new ports of call and two extended ports of call.
Sonamura-Daudkandi Protocol Route was also operationalized in September 2020. Trial run of transshipment of Indian goods from Kolkata to Agartala via Chattogram was conducted in July 2020, despite pandemic.