India, Bangladesh launch rail and power projects
Narendra Modi said it was a matter of pride for India to help Bangladesh achieve its goal of bringing the country into the middle income category.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Monday jointly inaugurated three infrastructure projects in Dhaka, PTI reported.
“The Bangladesh prime minister has set a goal of bringing her country into the middle income category by 2021 and into the developed countries’ category by 2041,” Mint quoted Modi as saying. “It is a matter of pride for India to help make this vision a reality.”
The three projects include two railway projects – construction of a 15.5 km railway link between Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala in Tripura and rebuilding the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways – and a 500MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh through the existing Bheramara-Baharampur interconnection.
The inauguration of the three projects was done via video conference with Tripura and West Bengal Chief Ministers Biplab Kumar Deb and Mamata Banerjee joining in. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and her Bangladesh counterpart were also present.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs signed an agreement to establish an educational and medical e-network in African countries, reported The New Indian Express. The ministry signed an agreement with Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd to launch the e-VidyaBharati and e-ArogyaBharati Network Project that aims to link select Indian universities, institutions and hospitals to African educational institutions and hospitals.
Swaraj said the project “aims at putting India’s knowledge and technical expertise at the service of our African partners”.