Infrastructure development needed for Indo-Bangla transit: Muhith

DHAKA: Finance minister AMA Muhith on Saturday laid emphasis on the development of infrastructure for allowing transit facility to India, saying that existing infrastructures at home are not enough to support transit.
"Transit is important but the development of infrastructures is the basic and more important for making the transit effective," he said while speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day dialogue on India-Bangladesh relations here.
Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) and Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), India, jointly organised the dialogue.
PKSF chairman Dr Quazi Khalikuzzaman Ahmed and executive vice- chairman of CRRID Rashpal Malhotra took part in the discussion.
Sanjay Bhattacharyya, acting high commissioner of India in Bangladesh, also spoke on the occasion.
Speaking at the programme as the chief guest, Muhith said transit facility between the two countries had been there since 1947 but it remained suspended for a very brief period during Indo-Pakistan war in 1965.
Rejecting the allegations that there is high possibility of carrying out fraudulent activities in the name of transiting goods, the finance minister said modern technology can check such activities very easily.
Sanjay Bhattacharyya in his speech laid stress on strengthening people to people contact between the two countries to stop boarder firing, smuggling and human trafficking.
Referring to recent boarder shootings by BSF, Sanjay said smuggling, human trafficking and different anti-social activities were mainly responsible for such shootings.
He said India has been working to contain such firing in the boarder areas.