As part of the Look/Act East Policy, which one of the following capitals of North-East Indian States is proposed to be connected with Bangladesh via rail route?

Correct — A, Agartala. The cross-border line runs from Nischintapur near Agartala, the capital of Tripura, to Akhaura Junction in Bangladesh — about twelve kilometres of track, roughly five on the Indian side and seven on the Bangladeshi side, funded by India. It matters because a train from Agartala to Kolkata through Bangladesh is a fraction of the distance of the journey around the Siliguri corridor. The other three capitals are not on any proposed India-Bangladesh rail alignment at all.

• (b)Kohima — Kohima, the Nagaland capital, is nowhere near the Bangladesh border, and Nagaland's rail link is the line to Dimapur inside the state.
• (c)Imphal — Imphal is the Manipur capital, and Manipur's rail project runs to Jiribam and on towards Imphal from within India. Manipur's international frontier is with Myanmar.
• (d)Itanagar — Itanagar, the Arunachal Pradesh capital, is served by the Naharlagun line from Assam. Arunachal borders China, Myanmar and Bhutan, not Bangladesh.

The Look East Policy of the early 1990s reoriented Indian diplomacy towards South-East Asia; it was recast as the Act East Policy in 2014 with connectivity and the development of the North-East as explicit aims. Cross-border rail, road and inland waterway links through Bangladesh are the practical form the policy takes for Tripura and the states behind it.

Geography explains why Agartala was chosen. Tripura is almost surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, and Agartala sits within a few kilometres of the border; goods from the state currently travel the long way around through the narrow Siliguri corridor. As of the 2022 exam the line was still under construction. It was inaugurated on 1 November 2023, though regular traffic on it has been slow to follow.

• The link runs from Nischintapur near Agartala to Akhaura Junction in Bangladesh, about 12 km in all.
• The Indian stretch was funded by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; the Bangladeshi stretch by Indian grant assistance.
• It was inaugurated on 1 November 2023, after this paper was set.
• Tripura is bounded by Bangladesh on three sides, which is why its connectivity runs through that country.

• Picking Imphal on the strength of Manipur's better-known rail project, which runs inside India towards Jiribam.
• Assuming every north-eastern capital borders Bangladesh; only Tripura is enclosed by it on three sides.

As which capital, which neighbour, or which project belongs to the Act East connectivity set.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project connects an Indian State to a port in which country?

  • (a)Bangladesh
  • (b)Myanmar
  • (c)Thailand
  • (d)Sri Lanka

  Answer(b) Myanmar — it links Mizoram to Sittwe port through river and road segments, bypassing the Siliguri corridor.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Tripura's importance to India-Bangladesh connectivity comes chiefly from

  • (a)its deep-water port
  • (b)its border with Bangladesh on three sides
  • (c)its position on the Trilateral Highway
  • (d)its shared border with Myanmar

  Answer(b) its border with Bangladesh on three sides — Agartala lies only a few kilometres from that frontier.