India wants rail link with B'desh

India is interested in railway link between Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh, which could help boost bilateral trade and commerce, a senior official of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said Friday.

The Agartala railway station is under construction and around 11 km away from Akhoura junction in Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh.

D N Srivastav, Minister (Commerce) of the High Commission who was in Agartala to explore the trade possibilites, said a proposal has been put before the Bangladesh government for access to Chittagong port, which is 70 km from Sabroom town in South Tripura district.

Yet another proposal has been made for access to Ashuganj port, a river port of that country which is about 37 km from Agartala, he said.

Srivastav said Bangladesh wanted transit to Nepal and Bhutan through India and the proposal in this regard is being looked into.

He met Chief Secretary R Mathur and Commissioner for Trade and Commerce Loka Ranjan here today. He is scheduled to leave for Dhaka Saturday.