POLITICS, FRIENDSHIP AND THE SEARCH FOR PARTNERSHIP

Why India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline matters

- Raymond Lau

On 18 March 2023, Indian Prime 0 Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFP) via video-conferencing. Built at an estimated cost of INR 377 crore, of which the Bangladesh portion of the pipeline was built at a cost of approx. INR 285 crore, the IBFP is, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs, the second cross-border energy pipeline between India and its neighbours, yet the first cross-border energy pipeline between India and Bangladesh.

This 131.5 km-long pipeline will have the capacity to transport 1 Million Metric Ton Per Annum (MMTPA) of High-Speed Diesel (HSD) to Bangladesh. In emphasizing the importance of this newly inaugurated cross-border energy pipeline, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that the IBFP will further accelerate the development of Bangladesh, and will be an excellent example of increasing connectivity between the two countries'.

Indeed, cooperation on energy and electricity transmission lines between India and Bangladesh have continued to gather pace since Shiekh Hasina's government in Bangladesh came into power in 2009. The Baharampur-Bheramara cross-border power transmission link between India and Bangladesh, for instance, has already been operational since October 2013. This cross-border transmission line is not only the first South Asian high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnection but also the first electricity grid interconnection among SAARC countries.