Trade with North-East India

Minister for Industries & Commerce, Handloom Handicraft & Sericulture, Rural Development and Forests Jitendra Chaudhury of the government of Tripura, who is the main architect of the concept of a 1971 war memorial to be built at South Tripura district, and has had very close attachment with Bangladesh since the War of Liberation in 1971, talked to The Daily Star Special Correspondent Rezaul Karim on how Bangladesh and Tripura can be benefited through trade and investment, establishment of old communication links, transit and transshipment and ties between the people of Bangladesh and Tripura.

The government of Tripura is constructing a Bangladesh War Memorial and India-Bangladesh Friendship Park at Chottakhola, a border village at Rajanagar under Belonia of South Tripura, which is 130 kilometres from Tripura's capital Agartala.
Chottakhola was one of the 11 warfront-camps in Tripura in 1971. A verdant 20 hectare-land dotted with seven hillocks and a lake will house a memorial and a museum to commemorate Indian soldiers and Mukti Bahini. The park will also have a statue of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of the country's independence.
Talking to The Daily Star Jitendra Chaudhury said that building of such a memorial was a long cherished demand of the people of Tripura as they were actively involved with the 1971 war by providing support to the freedom fighters and sheltering around two million people in Tripura. He said that people of this state had strong love and feeling for Bangladeshi people and also shared the joys of Bangladesh's independence.
Speaking on trade, he said that Bangladesh could explore huge business opportunities in the north-eastern states to narrow the huge trade gap with India through doing business with Tripura. He said that Tripura was the gateway to the northeastern region and it could help Bangladesh derive further economic advantages from a market that is estimated to be over $20 billion, which is more than twice the trade deficit of Bangladesh.
He said that the state could be a potential hub for trade with Northeast India through development of transit and transshipment via Bangladesh because of the 856 km long border, which lies mostly in non-mountainous plain areas.
The location of the state and socio-economic linkage with Bangladesh enables easy and short distance access to the eastern, central, southern and, to some extent, the north-eastern parts of Bangladesh from Tripura. He said that access to existing major communications links in Bangladesh is possible.
Speaking about proximity of Tripura with Bangladesh, he said that the Dhaka-Chittagong highway could be accessed from Tripura through a very short road. The year-round inland river port, Ashuganj, is also very close to Agartala. The state is also alongside the Bangladesh railway network, which runs parallel to its international border for almost the entire length.
The Tripura minister said that connectivity between the major locations in Bangladesh through existing networks is already reasonably convenient due to proximity, which could be easily upgraded because the border is almost entirely plain areas.
Giving a historical background, the minister said that Tripura was just beyond the erstwhile East Bengal -- the eastern end of British India. The communication and socio-economic linkages of this state with India and the rest of world were naturally established through East Bengal, now the independent Bangladesh.
Down the centuries, Jitendra Chaudhury further said, a vast tract of land in Eastern Bengal -- comprising the entire Comilla district and parts of Noakhali and Sylhet districts -- formed part of Tripura's royal domain during the British period. This tract of land was renamed "Chakla Roshanabad" as the Zamindari of Tripura's princely rulers in the wake of the permanent settlement implemented by British Governor General Lord Cornwallis in 1793.
While the political map of Bangladesh and Tripura, he said, had undergone radical changes in the wake of the Partition, the socio-cultural bond and ties of heart and economy have remained as strong as ever.
The state is now approachable by land route via Guwahati. The distance between Guwahati and Agartala is about 587 km. The distance between Agartala and Siliguri, which is considered the entry point to the North East, is about 1,065 km. He said that the eight states of the Northeastern region covered 8% of the total area of India, and had 4% of the total population of India. They have huge untapped natural resources like minerals, natural gas, oil, coal, agricultural and horticultural produce, forest produce, rubber etc. The region is also has high hydro potential, he added.
The proximity of South East Asian countries also placed North East India in an advantageous position compared to other regions of India. He said that the current internal trade involving movement of goods to North Eastern region from Eastern India offers a great opportunity for Bangladesh's trade and commerce. The goods traffic flows currently via Siliguri, passing through difficult mountainous terrain that is susceptible to natural disruption.
The eventual expansion of potential trade and commerce opportunities would require improved infrastructure on both sides of the international border. Even for Bangladesh, he said, it would be most effective and economic to improve links that already exist near Tripura and are in easily accessible plain areas of Bangladesh.
About Tripura's economy, he said that the state, with a population of about 3.5 million, was the second largest in the northeastern region and one of the better performing states in the region with a number of positive indicators in crucial sectors.
In this context, he said that Tripura's rate of growth in per capita income is highest among all the northeastern states, and it had registered a compound annual growth rate of 10.71% during 1993-94 to 2007-2008.
The minister said that the achievement had been possible as there was peace, good governance and security, which have been the hallmark of the state administration and play a crucial role in accelerating the pace of development.
Speaking about Bangladeshi businessmen's investment prospects in Tripura, Jitendra Chaudhury said that though the state was primarily an agro-based economy it was rich in natural resources like rubber, bamboo, tea, natural gas, agro-horti produce.
Referring to the recent agreement between India and Bangladesh, like declaring Ashuganj as "port of call," allowing transportation of Over Dimensional Cargoes (ODCs) through waterways from West Bengal to Ashuganj river port and then Ashuganj to Akhaura by road, allowing use of Chittagong port, construction of Akhaura-Agartala railway link and river protection at Feni, operationalising land customs stations at Sabroom in South Tripura and Ramgarh on the Bangladesh side, and strengthening infrastructure of land customs stations, will move forward socio-cultural and economic relations between Bangladesh and Tripura, he said.