Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday said that he is confident the new government in Bangladesh will maintain positive and cordial relations with India for the benefit of both neighbouring nations.

The Chief Minister said that relations between India and Bangladesh were earlier very strong and expressed hope that the upcoming government would restore and further strengthen bilateral ties for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

“I am sincerely hopeful that the upcoming government will help create a new Bangladesh,” Saha told the media on the sidelines of an event.

“I have witnessed happiness among the people of Tripura as a democratically elected government is set to be installed in Bangladesh. I would like to congratulate the new Prime Minister of that country and am strongly hopeful that the changing scenario in the neighbouring nation will be a positive development for all of us,” he said.

Saha said that as most parts of Tripura share a border with Bangladesh, the state would benefit significantly if positive developments take place in the neighbouring country in the coming days.

The Chief Minister further said that since the partition of the two countries in 1947, close relatives of many people in Tripura still reside in Bangladesh, while many people in Bangladesh also have close relatives in Tripura.

“Culture, language, food habits and other traditional aspects of the people of Tripura and Bangladesh are the same. The people of Tripura always love the people of Bangladesh wholeheartedly,” he observed.

Tripura, which shares an 856-km-long border with Bangladesh and is surrounded by the neighbouring country on three sides, has a vast market for Bangladeshi products. Of the four northeastern states, Tripura has the highest number of trading points with Bangladesh — six in total, including two Integrated Check Posts (ICPs).

Regular trade activities are conducted between Tripura and Bangladesh through these points. Four northeastern states — Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (263 km) — together share a 1,880-km-long border with Bangladesh, with more than a dozen border trade points functioning along these frontiers.

–IANS

sc/uk