Context

PM Modi, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, CMs of West Bengal and Tripura, jointly dedicate three projects in Bangladesh.

About

Projects include:

• Power transfer: 500 MW additional powerwould be supplied from India to Bangladesh, through the existing Bheramara (Bangladesh) - Baharampur (India) interconnection.
• With this, the total amount of electricity exported by India to Bangladesh will reach 1.016GW with West Bengal government offering to export another 1,000MW of power.
• Rebuilding: Rebuilding of Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways will be undertaken.
• It existed in the days before the partition of the Indian subcontinent.
• It is also seen as part of a trans Asian railway project that seeks to connect South Asia to Southeast Asia
• New construction: The construction of a 15.5 km railway link between Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala in Tripura will be undertaken.
• With a line already existing between Dhaka and Akhaura, the Akhaura-Agartala section when completed will allow another link in the cross-border connectivity between the two countries.

Significance

The Bangladesh Prime Minister has set a goal of bringing her country into the middle income category by 2021 and into the developed countries’ category in by 2041. Above projects will help Bangladesh realize its goal sooner and will enhance people to people links between the two countries. As India has been a key development partner of Bangladesh for long, current engagements shows further growing synergy between India and Bangladesh.