Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the “Maitri Setu” constructed bridge between India and Bangladesh. The bridge is built over the Feni river which flows between the Indian boundary in Tripura and Bangladesh. The construction of the 1.9 km bridge was taken by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited 1.9 km bridge. According to NHIDC, the overall construction cost of the bridge was approximately Rs. 133 crores.

The Indian Prime Minister was joined by the Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina in a virtual conference during the inauguration of the Maitri Setu that is built over the Feni river. Before the inauguration, the Indian PM said labelled the bridge as a trade corridor between the two neighbours and said, “The connectivity between Bangladesh and India will prove to be very important for the northeast region and for India and Bangladesh trade as well. This is a new trade corridor between India and Bangladesh.”

Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi Prime Minister said how the inauguration of the bridge is a “historic moment” for Bangladesh.

Sheikh Hasina in her video message said how the bridge will be the mark of a new era in South Asia as it will be providing connectivity to India. She also added that Bangladesh has remained skeptical in opening up and due to that, the trade couldn’t meet the potential it deserves. “I believe political boundaries should not become physical barriers for trade,” Mrs. Hasina added.

The name of the bridge that connects the two countries symbolises the friendly ties between India and Bangladesh. Maitri is a Sanskrit word that means ‘friendly’.

The Indian Prime Minister also briefly touched upon the state of affairs in Tripura and said how the Indian northeastern state has been experiencing drastic positive changes due to the “double engine” government in the state compared to the previous government that ruled for 30 years. “The country is also seeing that wherever a double-engine government is not there, you can look at your neighbourhood, policies empowering the poor, farmers and daughters were either not implemented or were moving forward at a very slow pace,” Mr. Modi said.

Along with the Maitri Setu, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation of an integrated checkpoint at the Sabroom which is aimed to improve the movement of goods, and passengers between the two countries. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the project has an estimated cost of Rs. 232 crores.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation of the H-208 which will connect the Unakoti district at Kailashahar with the Khowaj district. The plan involves state highways and district roads to be constructed costing Rs. 63.75 crores. According to PMO’s statement, the roads will provide the citizens of Tripura an all-weather connectivity option.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated 40,978 houses that were constructed under the BJP government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. This project which oversaw the construction of over 40,000 houses was completed at a cost of Rs. 813 crores.

There were other significant inaugurations done by the Indian Prime Minister today. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Integrated Command and Control Center that was set up under the Agartala Smart City Mission. A foundation stone of the Commercial Complex and Multi-Level Car Parking constructed at a cost of Rs. 200 crores was also laid.

Moreover, a foundation stone was laid by the PM for the project of the road expansion. The currently 2 lane road from the Luchubagan to the airport will be expanded to a 4-lane one. The project also comes under the Agartala Smart City Mission and costs Rs. 96 crores.

Thanks to the Maitri Setu bridge, Tripura is on its way to becoming the Gateway of the entire Northeast region. The bridge is going to provide access to the Chittagong Port in Bangladesh which is just 80 km from Sabroom.

 

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