While the centrepiece of Narendra Modi's maiden visit to Bangladesh was exchange of protocol to ratify the four-decades-old Land Boundary Agreement to demarcate the border for good, certain key outcomes that would finally give Delhi transit rights through Bangladesh missed the limelight.
India's long-pending request for transit rights were met through several transport agreements and framework arrangements that were reached on Saturday following Modi's talks with hisBangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
The focus is on connectivity by road, rail, rivers, sea, transmission lines, petroleum pipelines and digital links that would give Delhi access to its Northeast and beyond to Southeast Asia through Bangladesh. Senior diplomatic sources told ET the transit right will enable an effective 'Act East' Policy. The transit right through Bangladesh did not come to India easily. The erstwhile Khaleda Zia regime had strong reservations against granting such rights to Delhi on the pretext that it would infringe on the sovereignty of Bangladesh. As a result, access to landlocked Northeast is not only delayed, but it also becomes dearer in the absence of routes through Bangladesh. Several of Centre's development projects for the seven states of Northeast ran into delays as the gateway remains the Siliguri corridor in West Bengal.
However, the Hasina government realised that granting transit routes is a win-win situation for Bangladesh as it will enable local entrepreneurs to access the markets in Northeast and beyond and greater people-to-people contact in a smoother fashion, a source pointed out.
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