Hasina in Tripura Today

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, Jan 11 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will arrive on a two-day visit to Agartala, the capital of Tripura, on Wednesday, in what will be the first visit of a foreign PM to the Northeastern state.

Hasina, who will be conferred a honorary D Litt by the Tripura University during her trip, is being accompanied by a huge delegation, that includes her country’s foreign minister Dipu Moni. Hasina’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana is also part of the delegation.

The Bangladesh PM, who arrives Wednesday afternoon, will address a meeting of business captains in the evening before attending a cultural function at the Raj Bhavan. On Thursday, she will be be conferred an honorary D Litt during the ninth convocation of the Tripura University. She flies back to Dhaka the same afternoon.

“It is a landmark visit that will not only strengthen the bond between India and Bangladesh on the Northeastern front, but also give a big fillip to bilateral trade — of which Tripura will certainly be the biggest beneficiary,” Tripura industry minister Jiten Choudhury said on Tuesday.

“Bangladesh has already agreed to provide us access to Chittagong Port for movement of goods to and from India through road and rail. Both countries have also agreed to operationalise the Sabroom (Tripura)-Ramgarh (Bangladesh) land custom station, which is only about 75 kilometres from Chittagong Port. This will make transit through Bangladesh a reality, and make Tripura the Gateway to the Northeast,” Choudhury said.

Issues that are likely to come up during the trade and business meet include transit of Indian goods from Kolkata to Tripura through Bangladesh, development of road communication and other infrastructure as well as land custom stations at the international border.

“Bangladesh allowed us to use the Ashuganj port to bring in over-dimensional cargo for ONGC’s Palatana power project last year. We want this facility at Ashuganj port to become a permanent arrangement,” said M L Debnath, president, Tripura Chamber of Commerce & Industry.