Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Dhaka and New Delhi are likely to introduce a direct bus service from Agartala to Kolkata via Bangladesh, officials said.
This was disclosed at a meeting between a five-member team of the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) with Transport Minister of Tripura Manik Dey and other Indian officials, held in Agartala on Friday.
“The Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Bangladesh will boost up bilateral trade between the two neighbouring countries.” BRTC Chairman Major (retd) M M Iqbal was quoted by the Financial Express (FE), a local newspaper, as saying.
The state-run BRTC chief also said: “At the same time, it will encourage the people of both countries to visit the neighbours, which will augment our tourism sector in future.”
The five-member BRTC team went to India to discuss different issues, including strengthening of the existing Agartala-Dhaka bus service, they added.
The north-eastern states are surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China. The land-route available to these states from India is called the ‘Chicken neck corridor’ (or Siliguri corridor in West Bengal) and Assam.
The Kolkata-Dhaka bus service, the first direct surface communication between Bangladesh and India, was initiated in July 1999, while the Agartala-Dhaka bus service was launched in September 2003.
BBN/SI/AD-29Jan11-6:34 pm (BST)
