Bangladesh
Radhikapur-Birol Bangladesh wants to resume immigration at Birol-Radhikapur land port
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, 8 August 2023: Bangladesh wants the Birol-Radhikapur immigration in Dinajpur to be reopened. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury expressed his interest when he went to meet Indian High Commissioner Pranay Kumar Verma appointed to Bangladesh at the Secretariat on Monday. The High Commissioner assured to consider the matter.
After the meeting, the Minister of State for Shipping told reporters. He said, "Our immigration was open at many land ports. They were closed during Covid. Some have opened and some haven't yet. There has been talk that they should be opened soon."
He said, "Specially Biral-Radhikapur. This is what I said. Because it was operational. Thousands of kilometers have to be covered due to closure. He (High Commissioner) will take action on these."
The state minister further said, "Ramgarh Maitri Setu was inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Modi. Here all our infrastructure is done, including Customs We are not able to open it only because of immigration. Hope we can do it in a short time."
In response to a question about the Prime Minister's visit to India, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said, "The Prime Minister is going to visit India in September. The Prime Minister's Office knows what will be discussed during this visit. It is not for me to know. However, since the Prime Minister of the two countries has inaugurated the Maitri Setu, we want to go into operations before the Prime Minister's visit. We will take steps in this regard. We will talk to the Ministry of Home Affairs."
Stating that India has shown interest in financing Gomti river mining, the Minister of Shipping said, "Apart from this, the road we have in Ashuganj is being financed by Bangladesh. The port is being financed by India. There are some challenges. We have talked about them. Let us do them quickly."
Khalid Mahmud said, "Many people are interested in our cruise service. Several private operators have applied to us. They want passengers or tourists to go from Bangladesh to Kolkata. Regarding the visa, we have said that they will take steps in this regard."
He further said, "During the time of Covid, our crews going to India could not get off the ship. We have informed this matter so that it is relaxed."
