India-Bangladesh rail link hopes for Northeast

 Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma urging Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to examine the possibility of commencing trains between southern Assam’s Barak valley and West Bengal through Bangladesh is a timely and laudable initiative. It is heartening to know that the Union Minister has assured to look into the proposal on a priority basis. This has triggered hopes for Assam to leverage the deepening India-Bangladesh relations to boost trade, commerce, and tourism. Establishing railway connectivity between Barak Valley and West Bengal through Bangladesh will significantly reduce travel time compared to the existing railway route between the two via Guwahati and Siliguri. India and Bangladesh signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on railway connectivity last month to allow use of each other’s railway network for the movement of goods and people, as well as Bhutan and Nepal. The neighbouring countries have agreed that specific routes and necessary Standard Operating Procedures will be finalised through mutual consultation, which will include, among others, routes through Bangladesh connectivity to Kolkata, Agartala, New Jalpaiguri, and Karimganj as and when operationalized. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the Agartala-Akhaura rail link through a virtual event through a virtual event last year. The rail link has drastically reduced the travel distance between Agartala and Kolkata from 1600 km along the existing route via Guwahati to just 500 km via Dhaka. It also reduced travel time from the current 38 hours to 10 hours. The figures themselves speak for tremendous opportunities that will be unlocked for the entire northeastern region once commercial operation of goods and passenger trains starts on this transborder rail link and any route connecting Barak Valley and West Bengal proposed by the Assam Chief Minister. The MoU mentioning the inclusion of the Karimganj-New Jalpaiguri route as and when it is operationalized has brightened hopes for the proposal getting the urgent attention of the Railway Minister. Assam, Tripura, and other states in the region being dependent on supplies of foodgrain and essential commodities from the rest of India, the reduction of distance and travel time will moderate the prices of these commodities procured from other states. The availability of essential commodities at a cheaper price will boost household income and reduce infrastructure development costs. The MoU further states that India shall allow use of its railway network for the movement of goods and people to and from Bangladesh with Bhutan and will provide rail connectivity to Bangladesh with Bhutan through the newly inaugurated Haldibari in West Bengal and Chilahati in Bangladesh and the proposed rail route connecting Gelephu in Bhutan. If a rail link connecting the Barak Valley to West Bengal via Dhaka becomes a reality, it will also provide alternate connectivity for keeping the supply line on when the railway connectivity to the valley gets disconnected due to a landslide in Dima Hasao during the monsoon period. Currently, there are five rail operational links between India and Bangladesh, and passenger trains are running on three routes so far. The bilateral agreement states that both sides are also working on the restoration of pre-1965 rail links, including Karimganj/Mahisasan in India and Shahbazpur in Bangladesh. The two neighbours have agreed that the movement of goods within each other’s territory will be subject to charges relating to transportation, other services, and costs deemed necessary, as well as other relevant taxes and fees. Once the two countries finalise these and issue notifications, there will be more clarity on the on the actual operation cost of trade and commerce using the transborder rail links. Transit and transshipment facilities provided by Bangladesh via its roadways and waterways under the protocol on inland water transit and trade, besides the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports to India, have already created new opportunities for boosting trade, commerce, and tourism ventures. Highlighting these opportunities brought by a stronger and deeper bilateral bond between India and Bangladesh can play a crucial role in shaping new entrepreneurial dreams among youth in the region. It can also help in shaping new perceptions among investors about investment potentials in the region that lies at the centre of not just bilateral engagement between India and Bangladesh but also of the larger and more strategic sub-region called BBIN (Bangaldesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal). Time has come to capitalise on the opportunities, as the notion of the northeastern region being a landlocked region has now become a thing of the past. Rail connectivity within the region and with the rest of India has received a boost, with 18 railway infrastructures covering a total length of 1,368 km, falling fully or partially in the region currently in planning, approval, and construction stages. Of this, 313 km of length have been commissioned until March 2024. Increasing the pace of execution of these projects is essential to keeping pace with the transborder rail links that have been put on a high-speed track by India and Bangladesh. It will ensure that the entire region benefits optimally from these transborder rail links.