Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government wished to develop the Northeastern region as the gateway to the proposed economic corridor with India’s eastern neighbours. He said it while dedicating the second unit of a Rs. 10,000 crore power plant built by ONGC-Tripura Power Company Ltd. at Palatana, 65 Km from Agartala. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said on the occasion that the country could not grow without development in the Northeast. Modi was in the region for three days. His first engagement was with speed which meant the Railway. His last engagement had to do with energy which was in Tripura. The Prime Minister emphasized that direction for development was of the utmost importance. He has a plan for making Tripura a hub for promoting regional cooperation and he extended his hand of cooperation to Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury who was Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s energy advisor. Modi assured him that India was capable of supplying to Bangladesh as much power as it wanted. He cleared the sale of 100MW sought by Bangladesh.
Chowdhury indicated the desire of Bangladesh to source fuel and power from India. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar asked the Centre to engage with Dhaka to speed up trans-shipment rights through the sea and river ports of Bangladesh. Modi’s initiative in Agartala served two purposes. First, the BJP government cemented its relations with Bangladesh. The BJP may have alienated Dhaka in the past when L.K. Advani made some inopportune remarks in the Bangladesh capital. Second, it initiated strengthening its presence in Tripura which is the only state in India ruled by the CPI (M).