AGARTALA, May 21 (TIWN): New meaning of friendship will soon be bonded between two neighbouring countries as dreams of the people of Tripura will now probably come to reality when Agartala- Kolkata direct bus service through Dhaka launched in the upcoming days. Transport Minister Manik Dey while assuring the news said that, recently Bangladesh had agreed to the proposal. If everything goes well according to the plan, bus service will likely to be launched during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh. The required time allotted for the journey is scheduled to be of 16hours by mainly 3 travel agencies namely Tripura Road Transport Corporation (TRTC), West Bengal State Transport Corporation (WBSTC) and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC).In the meantime, delegate team of the Transport ministry of both the countries had discussed the matter among them. After that, the Ministerial level talk will be held within few days. It is to be mentioned that, the demand for Agartala-Kolkata bus service was pending long from Tripura . During the time of the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the Tista river treaty became the hurdle for the new initiative.

But in the reign of Narendra Modi, the exchange of Chit Mahals made the relations between two neighbouring countries into an alarming height, which had prompted the necessity for this Agartala- Kolkata bus service. During the last couple of days, Ministry of Transport had organized a meeting where Resident Commissioner of Delhi Tripura Bhawan, J. K, Sinha was present. There the good news was announced by the Ministry.

It is to be mentioned here that if the bus service started, then it will be extremely helpful for import-export and developing friendly relations. Since the 1980s, the Indian and Bangladeshi governments have sought to negotiate an agreement permitting commercial vehicles to pass through Bangladeshi highways in order to reach the northeastern states of India from the west; a concept described in India as the "Bangla Corridor”. Such an arrangement is being promoted for its benefit to bilateral commerce, the transport cost reduction for Indian businesses and additional revenue for Bangladesh. 

In 2006, both governments began working on a proposal to provide a bus service directly connecting Kolkata with Agartala, the capital of the Indian state of Tripura; but a direct road link via Dhaka would shorten the travelling distance to an estimated 400 km (249 mi) considerably reducing the costs of transport for Indian businesses, which have to transport goods and service.