Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced that the Central government has identified 10 places to establish Land Customs Stations (LCS) in Bihar along the international border to improve bilateral trade between India and Nepal.
An LCS is a facility providing transit, customs, immigration and cargo handling services for goods and passengers travelling between two neighbouring countries.
“The Centre is in the process of establishing a total of 19 Land Customs Stations along the Indo-Nepal border to improve the bilateral trade between India and Nepal. Out of the 19, ten will be established in Bihar,” Shah said.
The 10 Land Customs stations will be set up at Galgalia (Kishanganj district), Bairgania (Sitamarhi), Bhimnagar and Kunauli (Supaul), Jainagar (Madhubani) Valmiki Nagar (West Champaran) and several other places.
Shah was addressing a function after inaugurating a newly constructed residential building complex of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) near Jogbani Integrated Check Post in Araria district of Bihar.
Shah said, “The LPAI is working towards taking India's trade relations with neighbouring countries forward and it is also acting as the key player of the country for friendship and fraternity with neighbouring nations.”
He said that over 7,000 trucks move through the post every day and over 14 per cent of the total trade between India and Nepal takes place through this check post of the Land Port Authority.
The government of India is working on three principles 'coordination, cooperation and collaboration' for further improvement of its trade with Nepal, he added.
The Union home minister also inaugurated the residential building complex of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) in Bihar's Bathnaha virtually.
"The SSB, along with maintaining security on the border of two friendly countries - Nepal and Bhutan - also works to increase cultural relations," he said.
Shah asserted that the Centre has taken several major steps to improve border infrastructure, bilateral trade, people-to-people connectivity, and village development to boost ties with neighbours.
He said, "There are many border-related issues in Bihar, like infiltration, land grabbing and illegal trade".
These problems can be solved by the central and state governments together and with strict measures with no appeasement policy, he said adding that all these issues will be addressed in the near future.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre is building strong infrastructure in the border areas and efforts are on to provide benefits of welfare schemes in border villages while developing connectivity. For Modi-ji, every village at the border is the first village of the country,” he said.
Shah said that from the India-China war of 1962 till today, the dedicated soldiers of India's border security forces have not only secured the boundaries but also further strengthened the cultural identity of the villages located in the border areas.
He said, "Whether it is the Covid-19 pandemic or floods, everywhere our border security forces have conveyed the message of humanity to the border areas."
-With PTI Input
