India, Bangladesh to jointly inaugurate Petrapole checkpost through video conference

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, will on Friday jointly inaugurate the newly-constructed Petrapole Integrated Check Post, the biggest land port in South Asia, through a video-conference.

The video-conference will also be joined by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Petrapole-Benapole is an important land border crossing for India-Bangladesh trade as more than 50% of the India-Bangladesh trade passes through Petrapole.

Trade worth more than Rs. 15000 crore takes place through the checkpost, which is more than all the other Indian land ports and land customs stations put together.

The Petrapole ICP will provide better facilities for effective and efficient discharge of functions such as security, immigration, customs, quarantine, etc. while also providing support facilities for smooth cross border movement of persons, goods and transport.

It will also serve to foster greater economic integration and connectivity between India and Bangladesh.

Petrapole ICP will be the second ICP on the India-Bangladesh border after the Agartala ICP at the Agartala-Akhaura land border.