Agencies Posted online: Sunday, June 24, 2007 at 1925 hours IST
Baharampur, June 24: India is taking steps to improve trade relations with SAARC countries and to facilitate the easy movement of people within the regional grouping, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
The government is also considering a move to reduce customs duty on goods imported from poor countries, Mukherjee said after inaugurating a Regional Passport Office in Baharampur.
He said the passport office would cater to the needs of people of Nadia, Mushidabad and Birbhum districts.
This is the third passport office in West Bengal, the other two being in Siliguri and in Kolkata.
Speaking at another function after inaugurating a bridge at Ballarpur on National Highway 34, Mujherjee said it was necessary to widen the road to make it a four-lane highway.
He asked people possessing land along the highway to give it to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) so that the road could be broadened smoothly. The NHAI, he said, would provide appropriate compensation to people who provided land, he said.
