BOND OF BLOOD

Legacy and pragmatism drive India-Bangladesh relations, despite the looming Chinese presence

- MANDIRA NAYAR

TWO STEEL CHIMNEYS and plumes of smoke. Pictures of nuclear power plants rarely make for good PR. But in Dhaka, the norms are different. As you step out of the airport, pictures of the Rooppur nuclear power plant greet you from the elevated metro towers. Along with the Padma bridge, the nuclear plant, too, represents Bangladesh’s growing aspirations.

The 1,200MW power plant being built in Rooppur is a trilateral project supported by Russia and India. It is the first nuclear plant in Bangladesh and the first to be constructed by India abroad. It is expected to be fully operational by 2027.

The Rooppur plant is just one among the multiple infrastructure projects in which India has joined hands with Bangladesh. On November 1, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina reiterated the importance of the burgeoning relationship by relaunching the Akhaura-Agartala railway line via videoconferencing. Modi said India was proud of being Bangladesh’s biggest development partner. The two leaders also inaugurated the Khulna-Mongla Port railway line and unit II of the Maitree superthermal power project. The Khulna-Mongla link is a 65km broad-gauge line connecting Bangladesh’s second largest port Mongla with the existing line in Khulna, the third largest city in Bangladesh, offering eastern India better sea access.

The reopening of the rail link with Bangladesh will help India overcome the ‘Chicken’s Neck’ problem in the northeast—the Siliguri corridor that connects it to the mainland. It will reduce the distance between Agartala and Kolkata from 1,600km to 500km.