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Bangladesh, India exchange instruments of ratification of land boundary agreement

Xinhua, June 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

After dillydallying for decades, New Delhi has finally exchanged instruments of ratification of land boundary agreement with Dhaka.

The moment was witnessed by visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina and top officials of both countries on Saturday in Dhaka.

Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and Indian External Affairs Ministry Secretary S Jaishankar exchanged the documents on behalf of their respective countries.

Minutes after the exchange, Modi in a Twitter message said, " History is made as the instruments of ratification of land boundary agreement are exchanged."

The agreement aims at giving effect to acquisition of territories by India and transfer of territories to Bangladesh and exchange of enclaves in line with the 1974 agreement.

The Indian Parliament passed the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) Bill on May 7 this year.

The LBA was signed in May 1974 between Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Bangladesh ratified the agreement in 1974, but India held back the process, saying it would require a constitutional amendment to implement the agreement.

With the implementation of the LBA, people in such enclaves will now have a proper nationality and access to state provided benefits.

According to a joint survey (2007), the total number of people living in the enclaves is 51,549, of which 37,334 are in Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh.

According to the LBA Protocol, these people will now be allowed to stay on and become citizens of the country in which the enclave is located or they can opt to migrate. Endi