Tripura’s newly elected Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has emphasized on increasing multilateral trade and communication relation besides cultural exchange between India and Bangladesh where the state of Tripura can play one of the most vital roles.
Deb said this at the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhawan in Agartala where he took part as the chief guest in the Bangladesh Independence Day and National Day celebration on Monday organized by Bangladesh’s Assistant High Commission.
“Tripura will grow where business relation with Bangladesh will improve and for that talks are going on. Indian Oil had talks on gas found across the river in Rongpur of Bangladesh and in this side also in India we have gas, Bangladesh also want to give us gas so that we can develop our industries here,” Deb said.
He further said that connectivity is also opening up, be it Chittagong port or railways or roads.
“The India government is working in that direction. Now the government in Tripura and at the Centre is of the same party and we have a friendly government in Bangladesh. So Tripura’s development is on the card, simultaneously we also want development of Bangladesh,” he also said.
“Many commodities are there which are cheap in Bangladesh and costlier here so we want to get them here and from Tripura we can send our pineapples and its by-products,” he also said.
Deb further emphasized that the fertilizer factory which ‘we are trying to setup here’ would be beneficial for Bangladesh as it has a huge market and they procure it from Middle East which is much costlier.
“So we and Bangladesh can both be in a win-win situation. Again we are demanding for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here and lakhs of people who go to Chennai for treatment can take advantage of the hospital here,” he further said.
This will create employment for Tripura and cheap treatment for Bangladesh, he also added.
Besides the Chief Minister, the Chairman of University of Grants Commission of Bangladesh, Abdul Mannan and Editor of Dainik Sambad, Pradip Datta Bhowmik, among others, spoke at a seminar organized on the occasion.
A book on Bangladesh Father of the Nation Sheikh Muzibur Rahman was also released on the occasion.
Meantime, Bangladesh’s Assistant High Commissioner Shakhawat Hossain said that large number of people of Tripura always took part in the Bangladesh national days on March 26 and December 16 every year.
“People of Tripura are always behind Bangladesh’s every struggle,” he added.
Artists, including renowned singers, from both Bangladesh and India also performed at the function.