Railway Minister Flags Off India-Bangladesh ‘Mitali Express’

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and his Bangladesh counterpart Mohammad Nurul Islam Sujon on Wednesday flagged off “Mitali Express’ between New Jalpaiguri and Dhaka.

Flagging off the train, the railway minister said, “The relationship between India & Bangladesh is based upon our shared heritage, our shared present & our shared future. The development that we have in both the countries is today accelerated in a very big way by the warm friendship between the 2 nations at all levels.”

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“Mitali Express will be yet another milestone in increasing this friendship, in strengthening this bond, in improving this relationship,” he added.

"It's a very happy coincidence when Bangladesh has completed his 50 years of liberation and India is celebrating its 75 years of independence. It is a very opportune moment to take steps to strengthen our relation," he added.

After flagging off the new train, Vaishnaw tweeted: "Towards shared heritage, shared present and shared future!"

The New Jalpaiguri-Dhaka Cantonment train, bearing number 13132, will run two days a week, i.e., on Sundays and Wednesdays. For the return journey, train no 13131, Dhaka Cantonment-New Jalpaiguri, Mitali Express will run every Monday and Thursday. The train will cover the distance of around 513km between New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Dhaka Cantonment in Bangladesh in nine hours.

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