Boosting ties:Home Minister Amit Shah addressing delegates at a function by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.PTI  

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the northeast States will be linked by road and railway to Bangladesh in a year or two, creating many opportunities in the region. Mr. Shah said trade with Bangladesh will get a boost with the start of the Agartala-Akhaura railway link.

He said the historic Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) signed with Bangladesh in 2014 ensured proper connectivity in the region.

Mr. Shah was virtually addressing the delegates at a function organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

He said peace had been restored in the northeast in the last seven years along with economic and political stability, and the Governments were able to complete their full five year-term.

“Pre-2014, differences were created between the rest of India and the northeast. I went to a pharmacy in Nagaland once and the shopkeeper did not recognise me. He asked where I had come from. I said Kolkata. Oh, you have come from India, the shopkeeper said. My heartbeat stopped for two seconds. I asked him if Nagaland was not part of India, but he did not say anything. I mention this incident because post-2014, Mr. Modi worked to remove the emotional rift with people in the northeast,” Mr. Shah said.

“By 2024, the Modi Government will connect capitals of all the eight States by air, seven of the eight State capitals will be connected through rail, and a network of roads is operational. Time has come to invest in the northeast, empower the northeast, give a boost to the northeast and bring the northeast into the nation’s development trajectory,” Mr. Shah said.

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