Kolkata: The Indian Railways is working to link northeastern states with the neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh according to Rajen Gohain, central Minister of State for Railways.
“Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has already undertaken many survey works for providing rail connectivity to countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh,” Gohain told Gulf News over phone.
“It is the endeavour of our government to improve regional ties, and railways certainly play a crucial role in achieving that,” the minister added.
There is already a railway link between India and Bangladesh and for the Indian government, the priority is to establish an Indo-Bhutan rail link, for which studies were carried out in 2008, and include Kokrajhar-Gelephu, Rangiya-Samdrup Jongkhar, Banarhat-Samtse, and Pathsala-Nanglam. Gohain. Currently there is no railway line in Bhutan but the government is banking on its engineering team to accomplish the feat in three years.
“Indian railways has connected the extreme terrain in various parts of the country. We will be able to conquer the hilly terrain of Bhutan,” said a senior officer of the technical team of the railways.
A rail link already connects Kolkata and Bangladesh. Work is on to link various regions of the country with other Indian states.
“We have already connected Bangladesh at Singhabad. Work to connect Radhikapur and Haldibari is in progress. The proposed Agartala-Akhaura International rail link project will boost socioeconomic development of not only Tripura state but [the] entire Northeast Region and the nation as a whole”, the NFR added in a statement.
The link will be a part of the Trans Asian Railway network and once completed this Indo-Bangla rail line project is expected to be a gateway to the entire North Eastern region. It will connect Northeast India with Ashuganj and Chittagong Port of Bangladesh. It will also connect Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka shortly. The existing distance between Agartala and Kolkata on Indian Railway network is 1613km, which will be reduced by around 900km.
Indian railways are also working with the Nepalese government on the feasibility of railway links and is said to have identified areas from where it will connect not only to northeastern states but also to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The government is hopeful that the projects will be implemented on time and will enhance trade within neighbouring countries.
Analysts however believe that it is also a way for the Indian government to take on the Chinese to stop from infiltrating the country. “We need to protect Nepal and Bhutan and support them if we want to protect our borders from China,” said Nihal Singh, a foreign policy expert.