The cabinet has approved the drafts of the protocols of Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and Dhaka-Sylhet-Guwahati passenger bus services.
The protocols are expected to be signed during the upcoming Dhaka visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will be Modi’s first visit to Dhaka after his Bharatiya Janata Party won the 2014 Indian general elections by a landslide.
The approval came at yesterday’s cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Secretariat.
Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting the Indian prime minister might agree to sign the protocols for ensuring smooth bus communications between the two neighbouring countries.
The trial run of the much-awaited bus service between Kolkata and Agartala via Dhaka began yesterday while that between Dhaka and Guwahati started on May 22.
“Both countries will have equal opportunities in operating bus services but will require route permits,” the cabinet secretary said.
But he did not explain the type of visa needed for the journey and how much the Bangladesh government would earn in taxes from the services.
Yesterday’s trial run of the bus service began from Kolkata at 9am which carried a 10-member delegation of the Indian government headed by West Bengal Transport Secreatry Alapan Bandyopadhyay.
The bus reached Dhaka at night and will start for Agartala this morning. It will return from Agartala tomorrow and will also reach Kolkata the same day.
The bus with a capacity of 45 passengers departed from Kolkata’s Salt Lake international bus terminal.
The Kolkata-Dhaka bus service was introduced in 1999 and the other between Agartala and Dhaka in 2003.
Residents of Kolkata and Tripura have long called for introducing a transport service that allows them to travel between the two destinations via Bangladesh without changing the means of transport.
A direct journey between Kolkata and Tripura will take almost three days if the transport does not run via Bangladesh as the total direct distance is 1,650km, with a large part of the road network covering hilly areas.
But the same journey via Bangladesh will take less than 24 hours as the distance via Dhaka is only 513km.
