Taking business relations a step higher for mutual benefit, Bangladesh and India recently merged the busiest land check-post at Benapole-Petrapole, which according to the Indian High Commission will also be the biggest land port in the entire South Asia.
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Aimed at eliminating infrastructural bottlenecks to achieve “effective and efficient” security, immigration, customs, and quarantine functions, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the new ‘Petrapole Integrated Check Post’ (ICP) through a video conference. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also reportedly joined the duo from Kolkata.
The second ICP on the India-Bangladesh border after the one in Agartala (in Tripura, India), and the biggest anywhere on India’s borders, around 70 to 80 per cent of the India-Bangladesh trade reportedly passes through Benapole-Petrapole and trade worth around US $ 5 billion takes place at Petrapole, which is more than all the other Indian land ports and land customs stations put together.
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According to reports, the next land customs station to be upgraded will be Dawki in Meghalaya (India), where land acquisition for the project has already been completed.
Bangladesh-India relations witnessed an array of engagements in recent years which received a booster after Hasina Government recently opened transit facilities to India, enabling it to carry goods to its north-eastern states through Bangladesh.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
