Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday inaugurated and laid foundation stone for various development projects of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) and Border Security Force (BSF), close to India-Bangladesh border, in West Bengal.
Speaking on the occasion, Amit Shah said that India-Bangladesh relations are based on values of shared culture, language, art and life traditions and no one can disrupt these relations. The two nations have followed the same culture for thousands of years, and from the birth of Bangladesh till today, India has played a friendly role in the history of Bangladesh, he said.
Shah said BSF’s contribution to the freedom struggle of Bangladesh is written in golden words, and underlines the cordial and warm relations between India and Bangladesh, which will only gain fresh energy and momentum here on.
The Union home minister inaugurated Maitridwar at ICP Petrapole, BSF’s newly constructed Border Outposts (BOPs) and other buildings, virtually.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nishith Pramanik, Minister for Ports Shantanu Thakur, Chairman of Land Ports Authority of India and Director General of Border Security Force were present on the occasion.
Shah said India’s land border of over 15,000 kilometers touches seven countries, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a new policy has been formulated to strengthen relations and trade with all countries of South Asia.
The home minister said there was paucity of border infrastructure earlier, particularly in connectivity for trade, people to people contacts and border village development. Now border infrastructure is developing fast, along with connectivity and trade with other countries.
People can now move faster and border villages are being developed under the border village development programme. The government’s border security policy is very clear and precise, he said.
The Central government is working on building strong infrastructure in border areas and efforts are being made to provide benefits of welfare schemes in the border villages, like in other villages of the country, while improving their connectivity.
He said the Land Ports Authority of India, taking care of India’s land border of over 15,000 kms, received a new momentum, direction and dimension from the Prime Minister since 2016.
Over 600-700 trucks come to Petrapole on India-Bangladesh border every day for trading purpose, and this often leads to a problem of overcrowding. However, with the construction of a second cargo gate now, this problem will be solved, the Home Minister said.
Between 2016 and 2022, there has been a significant increase in land port cargo and passengers’ transit. While in 2016-17, the trade amount was Rs 18,000 crore, it has now crossed Rs 30,000 crore, which showcases the excellent performance of Land Ports Authority of India.
The Home Minister said that in 2022-23, over 20 lakh passengers have moved through the land ports. After the construction of the passenger terminal building in Petrapole in 2021, movement of five lakh passengers annually, that is, about 11,000 passengers daily, has been facilitated, he said.
Shah said that a police station building, hostel and seven different police stations of BSF have been inaugurated on Tuesday on the Bengal border at a cost of over Rs 108 crore. Trade is receiving great emphasis under India’s border policy now.
He said that several initiatives have been taken for the Land Ports Authority of India in the last five years. These include Port Automation System, Land Port Management System, Land Port Digital Security and Monitoring System, Digital Port Asset Management System, Suvidha Portal, an Integrated Check Post at Attari and providing passenger amenities at the Agartala Land Port.