At a time when the Centre’s decision to privatize the Numaligarh Oil Refinery (NRL) in Assam, has been met with stiff resistance from the citizenry, Bangladesh has shown keen interest to purchase oil from the refinery.

The Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, A.T.M. Rokebul Haque, during his address at the two-day Indo-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet in Assam, said that the Bangladesh government has decided to purchase diesel from Numaligarh Refinery Limited in Assam on 22th October (Tuesday).

A.T.M. Rokebul Haque during his address also mentioned that the neighbouring country has opened the first-ever Diplomatic mission in Guwahati, at Assistant High Commission Level.

He added that the bus connectivity between Shillong and Dhaka and railway connectivity between Agartala and Akhara, which is scheduled to be completed soon.

All the pre-1965 road and railway routes are under process, to be restored, he announced. The Bangladesh High Commissioner to India also added there is much scope for developing trade-ties between the two nations as Bangladesh is already purchasing electricity from the state of Tripura. He also emphasized on socio-economic connectivity.

Haque also mentioned that the country would supply drinking water to North East’s Tripura from the Pheni river, as discussed during Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India.

He further mentioned that both the prime ministers jointly signed for a project to supply LPG gas to Tripura for cooking purposes, reducing the travel distance from 1,800 km to 200 km.

Reference: https://insidene.com/2019/10/22/bangladesh-announces-plan-to-purchase-oil-from-nrl-amid-protests-over-proposed-privatization/