Replied by Dr Sreeradha Datta, Centre Head & Senior Fellow, Neighbourhood Studies, VIF
India has no interest to 'get' Chittagong. Indeed ever since 2010 , when India and Bangladesh have been working closely on a gamut of issues including building cross border bilateral transport connectivity projects that will also include the South Asian sub-region, the two neighbours have been able to develop a huge network of cross border transport facilities . This amongst others has indeed brought the Northeast region closer to mainland India through many of the new bilateral agreements.
Amongst many other cross border transport projects, Bangladesh had also agreed to giving India transhipment facility through Chittagong and Mongla ports for sending goods to and fro to the Indian Northeast region. It was in July 2020 that mv Shejyoti, a ship with four containers bound for Indian States of Tripura and Assam, set sail from the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port at Haldia in West Bengal, India, for Chittagong. Access to Chittagong and Mongla ports has been a great step towards access the land-locked Northeast region.
Indeed, Tripura is playing a major role in bringing Bangladesh closer to the Northeast region through many energy and transport projects.