Bolstering Bangladesh Seven Sisters ties

Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal – the first three of these seven North East Indian states or Seven Sisters have a huge demand for Bangladeshi products. The demand for Bangladeshi products is gradually increasing in the remaining four states as well. All signs indicate that a big market for Bangladeshi products can be created in the Seven Sisters. The citizens of Bangladesh and the seven states of India will also benefit from the expansion of bilateral trade. The longest land and river-based boundaries with Bangladesh are in Tripura and Mizoram. Closer economic integration and connection with Bangladesh would diminish these states' economic isolation, while simultaneously strengthening their linkages with India's heartland.

A report published in The Business Post says that with the growing demand for and popularity of Bangladeshi products, mostly consumer goods, many manufacturers and exporters are eyeing to grab the markets in India’s Seven Sisters as direct transportation through land ports has made trade with the neighbouring country easier.

Bangladesh and India share a 4,096km international border, 1,880km of which is with India's northeastern region (NER). India's NER is strategically positioned and might serve as the country's gateway to Southeast Asia. Among the seven states that share borders with Bangladesh are Tripura, Mizoram, Assam and Meghalaya. Among them, Bangladesh has ports with Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya. The products of Bangladesh enter North-East India through the border of these three states.

It is known that Bangladeshi products are in demand in these states, including ready-made clothes, iron, cement, tin, hilsa, dry food, juice, chips, confectionery items, cotton, plastic footwear, sandals, plastic table, kitchenware, jamdani saris, raw jute, mineral water, various types of sauce and snacks, ice cream, emergency light, condensed milk, etc.

The northeastern region is connected to the Indian mainland through Bangladesh. There should be more emphasis on developing mutually beneficial economic relations. Bangladesh has offered India the use of the Chittagong Port. The northeastern provinces of India, particularly Assam and Tripura, will benefit from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent offer to India. This is particularly important since there has long been a demand for connectivity between Bangladesh and mainland India’s northeast via multiple modes of transportation. In-depth conversations were held before efforts to increase capacity on railroads, highways, and waterways were started. Over the past few years, successful trial runs and transshipments have also taken place.

Tourism is one area which remains untapped. The first step towards increasing tourism between Bangladesh and the Seven Sisters will be to reopen all of the blocked border checkpoints to visitors. Both countries must look into the possibility of adding more border checkpoints and developing infrastructure, including communication lines. Furthermore, the international airport in Sylhet can act as a link between the secluded people of the northeast and the rest of the globe. Given the enormous number of state-of-the-art hospitals and educational institutions on this side of the border, Bangladesh can also draw a large NER population for medical and educational tourism.

The countries need to improve communication and port management to further expand bilateral trade between the two regions. The report says that in recent months, Bangladesh set up more land ports to ship goods to India, mostly to the Seven Sisters. Currently, exporters can send goods through 11 land ports, up from only a few a couple of years back. Bangladesh is experiencing an economic miracle. Therefore, strengthening the business relations between the Seven Sisters and Bangladesh will be advantageous. These Indian states ought to take advantage of any prospective connections with Bangladesh. Growing connectivity and trade relations could be advantageous for Bangladesh.