India has suspended funding and construction of about 5,000 crore rupees for a railway connection project in Bangladesh. The decision was taken citing ‘worker safety’ and ‘political instability’, the country’s media outlet The Hindu reported on Sunday (April 20).
This has stopped work on three ongoing projects and survey work at five different locations. Some sources said that this has hampered the plan to connect their northeastern states (Seven Sisters) with the Indian mainland via Bangladesh’s railway.
Instead of building its own rail network in Bangladesh, New Delhi is now using this money to improve the railway infrastructure in northern India. In addition, the country is thinking of connecting the Seven Sisters with the mainland via Nepal and Bhutan, bypassing Bangladesh. A source said that a connection project worth 3.5 to 4 billion rupees is being considered through Nepal and Bhutan.
The Hindu reported that the suspended projects were crucial for connecting India’s ‘landlocked’ northeastern states via Bangladesh. The project was planned to reduce dependence on the narrow Siliguri Corridor (Chicken Neck Corridor), which is the only route connecting the northeastern states from the Indian mainland.
An official, who did not wish to be named, said, “We are not sending any construction or other materials to Bangladesh at the moment. Funding for the connecting route with the neighbouring country has been stopped. Political stability in Bangladesh is needed to restart the project. However, work on the Indian part of the project is going on as planned.” Source: The Hindu