Two more Indo-Bangla rail links to be restored

FT ONLINE 

Two more pre-1965 cross-border rail links between Bangladesh and India will be restored this year, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

Four such rail links have already been revived, he said and three new links between the two countries "will come on stream by 2021, including the critical one between Agartala and Akhaura," he said while speaking at the Economic Times Business Summit in New Delhi on Saturday.

Jaishankar said connectivity is one of the three main pillars of India's "neighbourhood first" policy.

"At the end of the day, foreign policy is built on economic muscles. And that is why, the key foreign policy challenges – connectivity, technology, global architecture etc. – is best addressed as a partnership between us," he said.

He said India's outlook towards development partnerships reflects its larger world view envisaging "a demand-driven and consultative agenda that respects the interests of partner nations.

"Connectivity today is the new Great Game. It shapes choices and builds linkages that could well determine the architecture of the order in making," said Jaishankar.