Agartala, Sep 9 (IANS): India and Bangladesh would soon delineate their long-disputed border areas while Dhaka has sought information about the bases of terrorists from India's northeast in Bangladesh to curb terrorism, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said here Friday.
"Officials of the Joint Boundary Working Group would soon visit all the disputed Indo-Bangla patches along Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya," Sarkar told reporters.
Sarkar, who along with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Pu Lalthanhawla of Mizoram and Mukul Sangma of Meghalaya accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his two-day Bangladesh tour, returned here Thursday afternoon from Dhaka.
"Occasionally tension prevailed in the disputed border areas for a long time. Troubles along the borders of two friendly nations are not good and these hitches are going to be resolved soon," Sarkar said.
Of the 1,880-km India-Bangladesh border with northeastern states, there are several disputed territories along west Tripura and Dhalai districts of Tripura; Dhubri, Nagaon and Karimganj districts of Assam, and East Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills district of southern Meghalaya.
He said the Bangladesh government has also agreed to allow India to erect fencing along the zero line in the disputed patches after demarcation instead of 150 yards from the zero line.
The four northeast chief ministers held meetings with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, trade and business group leaders and intellectuals in Dhaka Tuesday and Wednesday.
"When all the chief ministers drew Shekh Hasina's attention to the bases of militants from northeast India in Bangladesh, she immediately sought papers and information about their locations. Indian officials have given necessary papers and info to the Bangladesh officials too," the chief minister said.
Talking about the unresolved issues relating to northeast India, including the crucial transit route via Bangladesh, Sarkar said: "As both Dhaka and New Delhi are very positive about solving the long pending and complex issues, the unsettled issues would also be resolved soon."
Surface connectivity is an important factor as the mountainous northeastern states are surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China and the only land route to these states from within India is through Assam and West Bengal. But this route passes through hilly terrain with steep roads and multiple hairpin bends.
For ferrying goods and heavy machineries from abroad and others parts of the country, India has for long been demanding land, ports and rail access to the northeast through Bangladesh.
Tripura capital Agartala, for instance, is 1,650 km from Kolkata and 2,637 km from New Delhi via Guwahati and West Bengal, whereas the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata via Bangladesh is just about 350 km.
"If Bangladesh government provides transit facilities and allows India to use its ports, they would be immensely benefited in terms of revenue and duty," Sarkar said.
According to Sarkar, Tripura is ready to offer 100 MW of electricity to Bangladesh and increase the number of land customs stations to boost trade.
"Over 700 MW would be generated from the gas-based Palatana power plant. Tripura will get its share of 200 MW while the rest would be transmitted to other northeastern states."
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is to commission a 726 MW thermal power project at Palatana in southern Tripura at the cost of Rs.9,000 crore.