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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described the inauguration of the ‘India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline’ as a milestone of mutual cooperation in the development of the two friendly countries. He said, “I believe this partnership pipeline is a milestone achievement in the development of cooperation between our two friendly countries.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the India-Bangladesh partnership pipeline on Saturday afternoon from Gana Bhavan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed a button through video conference from India.

India will export diesel to Bangladesh through the 131.5 km Indo-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) constructed at a cost of INR 3.46 billion from the Indian Line of Credit (LoC). Diesel will be imported from the Numaligarh Refinery in Siliguri, India to the Parbatipur depot in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh through a pipeline of about 130 km. Of this, about 125 km is in the Bangladesh part and about 5 km in the Indian part. The pipeline has an annual transportation capacity of one million metric tons (mmtpa) of high-speed diesel (HSD). After inaugurating the pipeline, both the Prime Ministers expressed hope that it will play an effective role in boosting the economy of Bangladesh. Besides, they also stressed on the need to enhance connectivity between the two countries for mutual benefit.

The Prime Minister said, ‘It will increase the energy security of Bangladesh as well as accelerate the economic growth. India is our true friend. I want this friendship between our two countries to remain unbroken.

He said, ‘Bangladesh has now got the status of a developing country, we want to implement it. And we want to improve Bangladesh by 2041. Keeping this friendly relationship with India, we can work together for the overall development and welfare of the people of the two countries, that is our goal.

He also said, ‘We have upgraded our Mongla and Chittagong ports and Sylhet, Chittagong International Airport and Syedpur Airport as regional airports. Opening them completely for India so that India does not face any difficulty in using these ports. As a result, trade and commerce will be easier and the people of both countries will benefit.

The Prime Minister said, ‘We are building 100 special economic zones across the country. I want investors from India to come and invest more. Both our countries will benefit from it.’

He expressed hope, “In the days to come, Bangladesh-India will jointly celebrate more successes like India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline and work together nationally and internationally.”

He said, ‘The people of Bangladesh will benefit in many ways as a result of the launch of this India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline. This pipeline will play a significant role in ensuring the energy security of our people when many countries around the world are facing energy crisis as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. The cost and time of importing diesel from India through this pipeline will also be significantly reduced. He expressed hope that this pipeline will ensure stable supply of diesel in the 16 districts of the northern part of Bangladesh.

The Prime Minister said, ‘At present, it would be possible to import 60 to 80 thousand metric tons of diesel from India annually through railway wagons. As a result of the construction of the pipeline, it will be possible to import about 1 million metric tons of diesel annually. He said, through this, a good market for Assam has been created in Bangladesh where this diesel will be used for the development of people and the people of Assam will also benefit, and the people of India will also benefit. He said, currently our storage capacity in Pavartipur is 15 thousand metric tons. But we are working on increasing this storage capacity.’

In this month of independence, the Prime Minister remembered the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all the martyrs of August 15, 75 including Bangmata, the four martyred national leaders, 3 million martyrs and mothers and sisters of the liberation war, besides remembering the sacrifice of the Indian armed forces as an ally in the liberation war of Bangladesh. He also referred to the provision of shelter to about 1 crore Bangladeshi refugees in India during the liberation war and the provision of shelter by the Indian government to him and his younger sister Sheikh Rehana, who survived the assassination of the Father of the Nation and his family in 1975.

He said, ‘We are grateful, the government and people of India have given unstinting support to our liberation war. We achieved the final victory on December 16, 1971 in the joint operation of Bangladesh-India allied forces.

He said, ‘India is our genuine friend and brotherly neighbor. The free flow of our thousands of years of culture and heritage and historical and geographical bridging have made the relationship between our two countries ever closer.’ The Prime Minister also mentioned that the governments of both the countries have made many possibilities in the field of Bangladesh-India relations a reality in the past years.

He said, ‘All the problems existing between the two countries have been solved one by one. These include the Ganges Water Treaty, opening of road and rail links that were closed during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war, expansion of trade, cooperation in development and various development cooperation from India, strengthening of cultural cooperation and Increasing communication between the people of the two countries etc.’

Pointing out that mutual cooperation in the energy and electricity sector has increased for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries, he said, ‘We are committed to ensure electricity for hundred percent of the people in Bangladesh, it has already been implemented. We are importing 1,160 megawatts of electricity from India and several other bilateral initiatives are currently under implementation in the power sector, including at the sub-regional level. And as a result of this cooperation, our friendship is deepening.’ In this context, the Prime Minister thanked all the political leaders and people of India for solving the mutual problems of the two countries regarding the sea border as well as the land border. Source: Bass