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Indo-Bangladesh border talks end in failure |
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The three-day meeting between Bangladesh and India aimed at resolving border dispute and demarcation of the 6.5 undemarcated border and exchange of enclaves ended in Dhaka on July 4 without making much progress. Bangladesh rejected the Indian request for a fresh survey of disputed border areas and holding a census in their respective enclaves. The talks, which came in the background of the April border fighting in which 16 Indian and three Bangladeshi soldiers were killed, ended with a routine diplomatic pledge to try to resolve the vexed issue at the next meeting of the Joint Working Group. India had proposed that a joint survey be conducted in the 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh and51 Bangladesh enclaves which fall within Indian territory. New Delhi justified this as a safeguard against “confusion” that may result when the enclaves are eventually exchanged as some people may try to change their nationalities when this happens. But, the Bangladesh side, led b Janibul Haq, a Joint Secretary said, bilateral Land Boundary Agreement 1974, specifically spelt out details of the transfer and any suggestion on census taking was extraneous to the agreement. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary in Foreign Ministry, Ms Meera Shankar.
This was the second meeting of the JWG since the border crisis in April, the first having been held in New Delhi last month. The Delhi meeting agreed on a road map to resolve irritants and laid down terms of reference for two working groups - one to tackle the 6.5 km undemarcated border and the other to deal with exchange of enclaves known as adverse possessions.
Meanwhile, in a welcome development, one of the last decisions the outgoing Sheikh Hasina Government has taken is to remove the chief of Bangladesh Rifles, Maj. Gen Fazlur Rahman, a hardliner, who was blamed for the killing of sixteen Indian Border Security Force personnel. He has been replaced by Gen. Ishaq Ibrahim and sent to Bogra to command the army’s northern division.
Also the Agartala-Dhaka bus has made a trial run. After Kolkata-Dhaka, this is the second bus service between the two countries.
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