AGARTALA, August 26 (TIWN): Tripura placed seven point demands before Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed during the recent visit of an Indian delegation headed by Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) General (Retd) VK Singh to Dhaka including grant of multi modal transit through Bangladesh using Chittagong and Ashuganj ports, Tripura law and parliamentary affairs minister Tapan Chakraborty said here today.Interacting with the media at his office in the civil secretariat here today, the minister, who joined the Indian delegation to Dhaka as sole representative from Tripura, said that he sought intervention from the Bangladesh government to allow Ashuganj and Chittagong ports to India for multi modal transport.

Also to accelerate survey work on Bangladesh side for the Agartala-Akhaura international rail project, operationalize the four border haats scheduled to be made functional along the Tripura-Bangla border and introduce direct bus service from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka.

The Maitri and Shyamali bus service between Agartala and Dhaka needs passengers to change buses at Dhaka amid journey to Kolkata. The process usually involves additional checking and frisking issues.

Asked about responses from the Bangladesh government, Tapan Chakraborty said that the Bangla authorities took the issue in positive light. They said they would try to meet the issue in experimental mode, he said.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, who joined the Indian team from the NER states, seconded the issues raised by Tripura, Chakraborty said. A business delegation from NE India joined the meeting at the invitation of the Indo-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industries (IBCCI) as well.