There is a lingual and cultural similarity between India and Bangladesh. Tripura especially holds a lot of similarities with Bangladesh and a three-day Indo-Bangla Tourism Festival 2022 (Bharat-Bangla Paryatan Utsav 2022) is all set to start on April 17 to further strengthen the bond.
The event will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb at Ujjayanta Palace, informed Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy in a press conference in Agartala on Tuesday.
Singha Roy said, a team from Bangladesh and tour operators of West Bengal and Northern states will be taking part in the 3-day Tourism Festival. Hoteliers, Tourism officials, Independence activists, authors, artists, laureates, intellects, political figures and people from different professional backgrounds will be taking part in this. There is a possibility of an MoU to be signed by the tour operators of Bangladesh.
The Tourism Minister said, apart from lingual and cultural similarities, both the countries have commercial relationships too. Tripura extended its helping hand during the Liberation War of 1971, for which the Bangladesh government has always shown its gratitude on different occasions. He said, once the under-construction bridge over River Feni is completed, trade between both countries will increase. Agartala-Dhaka bus service is already there. The Bangladesh government has requested to start a new bus service from Chittagong to Agartala via Comilla. He also informed the media about the plan to start air connectivity of Agartala with Dhaka-Chittagong. Besides this, rail connectivity is being expanded with Bangladesh via Nishchintpur. Along with this, boat services will be connected from Daudkandi to Sonamura through waterways.
The Tourism Minister said a roadshow will be organized on the inaugural day. Cultural programmes and food festival will be organized at Ujjayanta Palace. The tour operators from Bangladesh, West Bengal and Northeastern states will be taken to various tourist spots on April 18.
An interactive meeting will be conducted on April 19 with hoteliers, tour operators and tourism representatives of both countries on progressing commercial business and on tourism of both the countries. Director of Tourism department Tarit Kanti Chakma and other high officials were present during the press conference.
