India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline inaugurated
The structure, which runs for 132 kilometres, directly supply diesel to northern Bangladesh from the Numaligarh refinery in Assam, bypassing rail transport. This marks further cooperation between the two countries, which already share the Ganges River and resumed rail and road transport links interrupted by war.
New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The prime ministers of India and Bangladesh, Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina, took part in a virtual ceremony to inaugurate a cross-border pipeline capable of supplying northern Bangladesh with a million metric tonnes of diesel per year from India's Numaligarh refinery in Assam.
The India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline will reduce the time and cost of fuel supplies from India, and By boost energy cooperation between the two countries
The Numaligarh refinery has been supplying petroleum products to Bangladesh since 2015, but until now transport was done via rail.
Calling the pipeline a new chapter in bilateral relations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the petroleum trade with Bangladesh had crossed the US$ 1 billion mark.
For her part, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina explained that the pipeline is crucial for Bangladesh's energy security, especially because of the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine on the energy sector.
Built thanks to an Indian grant, the pipeline, whose ground-breaking was done in September 2018, runs for 132 kilometres to Parbatipur, 127 in Bangladeshi territory.
In her address, Hasina highlighted the steps taken by the two countries over the years to forge stronger ties, such as the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, resuming rail and road links cut during the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, the delineation of land and maritime borders, and greater energy cooperation.
Bangladesh currently imports 1,160 megawatts of electricity from India and the first unit of the Rampal coal-fired power plant, jointly built by the two countries, has come into operation.
Hasina also reiterated her offer to India to use the ports of Mongla and Chattogram and the international airports of Sylhet and Chattogram and urged Indian companies to invest in the 100 special economic zones that Bangladesh is creating.
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20/10/2021 14:50
