September 10, 2018: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, and Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tripura today jointly inaugurated three projects in Bangladesh via video conferencing. These include 500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh, Akhaura – Agartala Rail Link and Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Modi recalled Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s vision of restoring connectivity to the way it was before 1965. He said that he is happy that in the last few years, there has been steady progress towards this goal. He said that today, both countries have increased power connectivity, and started two projects to increase railway connectivity. Mr Modi recalled that during his visit to Bangladesh in 2015, it had been decided to supply an additional 500 MW power to Bangladesh.
He said this is being done using the transmission link between West Bengal and Bangladesh, and thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her facilitation in completion of this work. He said that with the completion of this project, 1.16 Gigawatts of power is now being supplied from India to Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister said that Akhaura-Agartala rail connectivity will provide another link in the cross-border connectivity between the two countries. He thanked Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, for his facilitation in completion of this work. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, also joined the video conference from Delhi and Dhaka respectively. (AIR News)
