By IANS,
Agartala : A group of chief ministers from the northeastern states will visit Dhaka next month to press for transit facilities to the region via Bangladesh.
The delegation will meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Trade and Commerce minister Farooq Khan and President Zillur Rahman March 4 and 5 to discuss the transit and other trade and business related matters, a senior official said here Wednesday.
The ministry of development of north eastern region (DoNER) will sponsor the first-ever chief ministers' delegation to Bangladesh.
DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is likely to lead the chief ministers' delegation, which would also meet business leaders of Bangladesh.
In an interaction with reporters in Manipur capital Imphal Monday, Aiyar had said transit facilities through Bangladesh would help bypass the difficult chicken neck corridor that connects the landlocked northeast with the rest of India.
"If Dhaka provides transit facilities to India and allows the use of Chittagong international port and other ports in Bangladesh, commodities and machinery can be transported to the northeast from various parts of India and abroad, saving huge time and money," Aiyar said.
"Investors from the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries will visit the region next month to explore business opportunities," he added.
Agartala is 1,650 km from Kolkata and 2,637 km from New Delhi via Guwahati, whereas the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata via Bangladesh is about 350 km.
Appreciating the initiative, Tripura Industries and Commerce Minister Jitendra Chowdhury said: "Bangladeshi traders and investors themselves are asking their government to provide transit facilities to India and increase trade and business with northeast India."
A 21-member Bangladeshi delegation last month visited the region and stressed the need for transit facilities and enhancing business with northeast India.
Meanwhile, a report from Dhaka said India and Bangladesh are set to renew the existing inland water transit and trade pact, integrating a new port of call in Ashuganj for easy transport of Indian goods from rest of the country to the northeast through Bangladesh.
"We are planning to renew the existing water transit facilities between the two countries," the report quoted a Bangladesh foreign ministry official as saying.
The bilateral Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade was renewed in May 2008 and is scheduled to expire next month.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Assam's Third Front fizzles out even before taking off
By IANS,
Guwahati : The much hyped third front in Assam has collapsed even before it could take off, with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) severing all links with one of the four major alliance partners, the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF).
"We wanted to have a seat sharing arrangement and stand united to fight the Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), but we failed to mutually agree on certain seats with the AUDF. From now on we don't have any links with the AUDF as the agreement failed," senior CPI-M leader Hemen Das told IANS.
The AUDF, the CPI-M, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had earlier this month announced their decision to work out a seat sharing arrangement to fight the upcoming general elections, with the four constituents of the third front agreeing to field mutually acceptable candidates.
The idea to form a third front was necessitated after the regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) decided to align with the BJP for the parliamentary elections in Assam.
Prior to the AGP-BJP pre-poll tie up, there were talks going on for a grand alliance of all non-Congress and non-BJP formations in Assam.
"We shall now field candidates against the AUDF in at least three seats. We are now keeping our options open for seat sharing agreement with the CPI and the NCP," Das said.
AUDF president and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal announced his candidature for the Silchar parliamentary seat - an announcement that angered the CPI-M.
The spat between the two main partners of the third front - the AUDF and the CPI-M - led to the breakdown of the fledgling political formation.
"We tried our best to keep the pre-poll alliance intact, but we failed," said AUDF working president Hafiz Rashid Choudhury.
The political scene in Assam as of now is totally fractured - the AGP-BJP on one side, the Congress and its alliance partner the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) on another side, while the Left parties, the AUDF and other parties join the race for power.
Guwahati : The much hyped third front in Assam has collapsed even before it could take off, with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) severing all links with one of the four major alliance partners, the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF).
"We wanted to have a seat sharing arrangement and stand united to fight the Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), but we failed to mutually agree on certain seats with the AUDF. From now on we don't have any links with the AUDF as the agreement failed," senior CPI-M leader Hemen Das told IANS.
The AUDF, the CPI-M, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had earlier this month announced their decision to work out a seat sharing arrangement to fight the upcoming general elections, with the four constituents of the third front agreeing to field mutually acceptable candidates.
The idea to form a third front was necessitated after the regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) decided to align with the BJP for the parliamentary elections in Assam.
Prior to the AGP-BJP pre-poll tie up, there were talks going on for a grand alliance of all non-Congress and non-BJP formations in Assam.
"We shall now field candidates against the AUDF in at least three seats. We are now keeping our options open for seat sharing agreement with the CPI and the NCP," Das said.
AUDF president and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal announced his candidature for the Silchar parliamentary seat - an announcement that angered the CPI-M.
The spat between the two main partners of the third front - the AUDF and the CPI-M - led to the breakdown of the fledgling political formation.
"We tried our best to keep the pre-poll alliance intact, but we failed," said AUDF working president Hafiz Rashid Choudhury.
The political scene in Assam as of now is totally fractured - the AGP-BJP on one side, the Congress and its alliance partner the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) on another side, while the Left parties, the AUDF and other parties join the race for power.
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