The cabinet yesterday approved a draft of the protocol on operation of passenger bus service between Dhaka in Bangladesh and Kolkata in India via Khulna.
With it, the second direct passenger bus service between Dhaka and Kolkata will go into operation.
Last year, more than 700,000 Bangladeshis visited India for various purposes and Bangladesh topped the list choosing India for tourism, higher studies and medical treatment. 
The cabinet also approved the draft of the agreement between Bangladesh and India for the regulation of motor vehicle passenger traffic 
between the two countries. 
The agreement and protocol could be signed during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India or later, said Cabinet Secretary Shafiul Alam while briefing reporters after the meeting.
He said Dhaka-Kolkata route bus is now plying through Bangabandhu Bridge, Hatikumrul of Sirajganj and Jessore. But when the protocol will come into effective, he said, another Dhaka-Kolkata route bus will be introduced.
The new bus service will ply through Mawa, Gopalganj, Khulna and Jessore, reducing 96km distance from the 
current route.
The cabinet secretary said the new Dhaka-Kolkata bus service would be inaugurated by the prime ministers of Bangladesh and India through videoconferencing.
The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina in the chair.