South Asian Media Net
Indo-Bangla border limit talks in August
Tuesday, July 06,2010
DHAKA: The Bangladesh-India Joint Boundary Working Group (JBWG) will sit at the end of August after four years to address the longstanding border disputes between the two neighbouring countries.
"Many border disputes between the two nations remain unresolved as the committee could not sit for a long time," Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder told reporters at the secretariat.
Meanwhile, Rajeet Mitter, Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, called on the State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku at the latter's office and discussed the Sunday's incident of firing by Indian Khasias on Bangladeshis near Jaintapur border in Sylhet.
Tuku told journalists that it was just a courtesy call. But home ministry officials said the Indian high commissioner explained the whole event to the state minister.
The home secretary however said both the sides agreed that Bangladesh Rifles and Indian Border Security Force should talk with the people in the border area and maintain peace.
Asked whether Bangladesh will lodge a protest with India against the firing, Tuku said the Khasia people, not the BSF, attacked Bangladeshis.
The two countries formed the working group headed by the joint secretaries of their home ministries in 2002 to settle issues involving territories under adverse possession, enclaves and demarcation of border.
But the working group could not hold meetings regularly. It last sat in July 2006.
Bangladesh and India share a 4,098-kilometre porous border. Bangladesh expects India to ratify the Mujib-Indira Land Boundary Agreement soon and demarcate an area of 6.5 kilometres.
An official estimation shows that an area of 551.8 acres is under India's adverse possession while 226.81 acres are under adverse possession of Bangladesh. The issue traces back to the mid-1960s when an international boundary was drawn between Bangladesh (the then East Pakistan) and India.
About 110 enclaves are in Bangladesh and 55 in India, said officials.