India To Resume Cross-Border Bus Service With Bangladesh After 2 Years

Mr. Islam said confirmed that the service would resume to The Daily Star.

Dhaka: India is all set to resume its cross-border bus service between Bangladesh and India on Friday, two years after its suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taking notes from the High Commission of India in Bangladesh, tweeted, "Resumption of India-Bangladesh Cross-Border Bus Services! Bus services b/w India-Bangladesh via ICP Agartala-Akhaura & ICP Haridaspur-Benapole resumed with the Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka bus being flagged off from Dhaka early morning today-a major step forward in enhancing affordable, people-centric connectivity."

The chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), Tazul Islam, said, they had confirmed that the service would resume to The Daily Star on Thursday.

The development comes after the rail service between the two countries resumed on May 29. The train service between the two countries was suspended in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two trains travel between India and Bangladesh, Bandhan Express operates between Kolkata and Khulna, Bangladesh while Maitree Express connects Kolkata with Dhaka.

Except for the Dhaka-Sylhet-Shillong-Guwahati-Dhaka route, service on four other routes would resume from Friday and the first bus would start from Motijheel at 7:00 am, added Mr Islam.

Before the suspension of service, buses were operated on five cross-border routes: Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka, Dhaka-Agartala-Dhaka, Dhaka-Sylhet-Shillong-Guwahati-Dhaka, Agartala-Dhaka-Kolkata-Agartala, and Dhaka-Khulna-Kolkata-Dhaka, reported The Daily Star.

The discussion over the operation of the fifth route is also going on, said a BRTC official.

India was one of the first countries to establish bilateral diplomatic ties with Bangladesh. "Both India and Bangladesh want to see the world progressing through their development. Both the countries want to see stability, love, and peace instead of instability, terror, and unrest in the world," Modi said last year.