Bangladesh minister in India to boost trade with northeast

By IANS,

Agartala : Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni arrived in Tripura Wednesday to boost cross-border trade and business with India's eight northeastern states.

Tripura Finance Minister Badal Choudhury and Industry and Commerce Minister Jitendra Choudhury received Moni at the Akhaurah India-Bangladesh checkpost, just two km from the Agartala capital city.

Moni, who was accompanied by her husband Tawfique Nawaz, a 30-member business delegation and senior officials, held a meeting with Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and other Indian officials.

She will address a business summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"During Moni's two-day visit, strategies to further improve trade between Bangladesh and northeast India and development of trade-related infrastructure along the border would be discussed," a senior Tripura official told reporters.

The two countries last March signed a crucial agreement to allow Indian goods to be trans-shipped to Tripura and other northeastern states through Bangladesh.

Under the landmark agreement signed during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi early this year, India will construct a bridge over Feni river in southern Tripura to get access to the Chittagong port for carrying goods and heavy machinery to the landlocked northeastern region.

On Thursday, Dipu Moni will lay the foundation of a memorial, the India-Bangladesh Maitri Uddan, being built in southern Tripura's Chottakhola as a tribute to Indian soldiers and Bangladeshi freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.