Indian Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu plans to run a trans-continental container train full of goods from Dhaka to Istanbul, reports India’s business daily ‘Financial Express.’
The train would cover a 6,000-km journey across five countries – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.
It says eventually Myanmar’s Yangon will also be connected to Dhaka after the missing Tamu-Kalay link in Southeast Asian country is completed.
Heads of railways of South Asian countries involved in the project have been called by Indian Railways at a high-level meeting in Delhi on Mar 15 and 16.
The good part of the project is that a long-missing link of 150 km in Zahedan (which is in the Baluchestan province of Iran) has now been completed, says the Financial Express report,
That has further made Trans-Asian Railway Southern Corridor good-to-go all the way to Turkey after certain operational exchange of notes and coordination between the nations concerned happens.
India is anchoring the process this month.
Mohammad Jamshed, Indian Railway Board Member said that the demonstration run will happen very soon in 2017 and they will sort out all the issues with the countries concerned.
It’s a great leap for South Asian regional connectivity in the rail sector. This will also demonstrate to the world that there can be a real, commercial trans-Asian container corridor of this magnitude in the rail sector.
Source: bdnews24
1.Indian Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu plans to run 6,000-km trans-continental rail ink across five countries – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. It is better to reframe the sentence that Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey plan 6,000-km trans-continental rail ink across five countries to sound a friendly relationship with with participating country. But ego of Indian politicians and Bureaucrats will never die. SHAARC failure is a reason for that. Same will happen.
2.Recent Indian negotiation with Bangladesh for a defence treaty has created doubt in our leadership as follows:1) Bangladesh proposes a Memorandum of understanding on defence (cooperation). Considering our geopolitical standing between two mutually non-agreeable globa power-we remain nonaligned to either militarily to avoid probable future risk. Sheikh Mujib would probably been more careful in such issue. 2) Our leadership has shown concern about maintaining country’s sovereignity-it is an alert that our big neighbours take care that nothing can be imposed on us as long as we care for our sovereignty.3) It has also been hinted that we are unlikely to be treated like other countries. I hope during final negotition in Delhi Modi casts his big shadow to influence our relatively humble position. Meanwhile, historically we are indebted to Indira Gandhi for her help in our independence and allocation of a fair share of ganges water. It is now Modis turn to show his greatness regarding tista water sharing and NOC to Bangladesh for Padma- Brahmaputra Barrrage