India-Bangladesh relations

[cobra commando]

India uncovers suspected plot to assassinate Bangladeshi PM - security officials

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top counter-terrorism agency has uncovered a suspected plot by a banned militant group to assassinate the prime minister of Bangladesh and carry out a coup, three senior Indian security officials told Reuters on Tuesday. India will hand over a dossier to Bangladesh with details of the plan by members of the Jamaat- ul-Mujahideen, which has carried out scores of attacks in India's eastern neighbour, the government and police officials said. Bangladesh did not comment directly on the assertions that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had been the target of a plot, but said it had tightened security on the border with India. The alleged conspiracy was discovered after two members of the group were killed in an explosion while building homemade bombs at a house in West Bengal earlier this month. Indian police say the militants were Bangladeshis and were using India as a safe haven to plan the attacks. "The strategy was to hit the political leaders of the country and demolish the democratic infrastructure of Bangladesh," said a senior Home (interior) Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This was all being planned on Indian soil and we could have been blamed if there was an attack."
India uncovers suspected plot to assassinate Bangladeshi PM - security officials | Reuters

 

[Free Karma]

Bangladesh: Jamaat-e-Islami party chief Motiur Nizami sentenced to death - IBNLive

 

[Ray]

Bangladesh: Jamaat-e-Islami party chief Motiur Nizami sentenced to death - IBNLive

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

 

[sgarg]

India should supply military needs of Bangladesh including submarines. The Chinese have encroached upon South Asia because India hesitates to supply weapons.

India should be proactive in economic and military fields in each country of South Asia. Only Pakistan is an exception which cannot be dealt at present.

The Muslim extremism has to be defeated, however help of Bangladesh government is needed in this task.

 

[cobra commando]

India gifts Bangla Prez AIR records of liberation saga - The Times of India

 

[cobra commando]

India, Bangladesh to step up joint border patrolling - The Times of India

 

[cobra commando]

Bangladesh Cabinet approves revised trade agreement with India - The Economic Times

 

[sorcerer]

A Boost for India-Bangladesh Relations

May 7, 2015 was a historic day in India-Bangladesh relations. That was the day when Indian parliament passed a Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) Bill. The amendment ensures a settlement of the long-running land boundary dispute with Bangladesh. It will contribute to stability and better economic activities at the border points. The bill has now to be ratified and signed, which may happen in June when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit Bangladesh.

The arbitrary division of the border in 1947 resulted in dispute over the control of numerous enclaves. These India-Bangladesh enclaves were known as the chitmahals. There were 102 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh and 71 Bangladeshi enclaves inside India. Inside those enclaves are also 28 counter-enclaves and one counter-counter-enclave. Thousands of people live in these enclaves, where they are subject to harassment from the security forces of both countries and are unable to access basic amenities and entitlements of citizenship or proper facilities such as electricity, schools, and health services. Even law-and-order agencies lack proper access to these areas. The LBA would allow residents to stay or migrate and become citizens. A joint Indo-Bangladesh delegation that visited these enclaves in May 2007 found that people residing in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and Bangladeshi enclaves in India did not want to leave their land and would rather remain in the country where they had lived all their lives.

The Nehru-Noon (Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan Prime Minister Firoze Khan Noon) Agreement of 1958 and the Agreement Concerning the Demarcation of the Land Boundary between India and Bangladesh and Related Matters of 1974 attempted to find a solution to the border demarcation. The Agreement of 1958 sought to achieve, among other things, three major objectives. First, to resolve differences that impeded demarcation of the boundary in different sectors of the border and the problem of the Union No. 12 of Southern Berubari, which was a part of India according to the line drawn by the British but belonged to Pakistan according to their written description. Second, the Agreement sought to resolve the problems of the so-called enclaves, 113 Indian enclaves inside East Pakistan and 53 East Pakistan enclaves inside India. Third, the agreement decided to exchange territories as a consequence of the demarcation of the boundary.

However, that 1958 agreement, at least as far as the mutual exchange of enclaves and the transfer of the southern half of South Berubari Union No. 12 to East Pakistan by India was concerned, could not be implemented because of litigation filed by Indian nationals, claiming that the entire union of South Berubari, was Indian territory at the time the Indian Constitution came into force and that the enclaves belonging to Cochbehar state were also part of India. Therefore, neither the southern half of the Union nor the enclaves could be ceded to a foreign country. In due course, the case reached India’s Supreme Court. The Court ruled that a constitutional amendment would be needed to proceed with the exchange stipulated in the Agreement. The Indian Constitution was in fact amended in 1960 (9th Amendment). Still, the exchanges did not happen.

Subsequently, a second agreement was concluded in May 1974 between Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Indira Gandhi. Bangladesh ratified it in 1974, but India again needed a constitutional amendment. Consequently, which much of the agreement of 1974 was implemented, three outstanding issues were not: (i) an undemarcated land boundary of approximately 6.1 km in three sectors; (ii) an exchange of enclaves; and (iii) adverse possessions.

A protocol (referred to as the 2011 Protocol) to the 1974 LBA was signed on September 6, 2011 during a visit by then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh. The 2011 Protocol does not envisage the displacement of populations and ensures that all areas of economic activity relevant to the farmhouses have been preserved. The 2011 Protocol was prepared with the full support and concurrence of the State Governments involved (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal).

And so we come to the bill passed earlier this month. That legislation faced opposition on the grounds that the proposed exchange of enclaves would result in a national loss of 10,000 acres and that it would fuel secessionist tendencies in other parts of India. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, “India will get 510 acres while Bangladesh will get 10,000 acres. But these are notional figures as these areas are deep inside the territories of the two countries. Our borders are not contracting.”

The bill is certainly bright news for those living in the enclaves, as they will get access to basic amenities such as schools and water. It will finally secure the border and will help curb illegal immigration and rampant cross-border smuggling. Under the agreement, enclave residents can continue to reside in their present location or move to the country of their choice. If they stay, they will become nationals of the state to which the areas were transferred. Hitherto stateless citizens will be granted citizenship, solving the question of identity. The agreement will also be helpful in settling border disputes at several points in Meghalaya, Tripura, Assam, and West Bengal. It will help increase connectivity and access to Southeast Asian countries as part of India’s North-East policy.

Ram Kumar Jha and Saurabh Kumar are working as Policy Analysts, CUTS International and can be contacted at [email protected] & [email protected].
http://thediplomat.com/2015/05/a-boost-for-india-bangladesh-relations/

 

[IBSA]

India and Bangladesh seal border deal, four decades later
Agreement is personal victory for India’s leader Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh

Bangladesh and India have sealed a deal to swap border territories, more than 40 years after it was negotiated.

The prime ministers of both countries watched as bureaucrats signed the pact in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. The deal, reached in 1974 but only recently ratified by India’s parliament, will be seen as a major achievement for Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, who won a landslide election last year to take power. “[The deal] will make our borders more secure and people’s lives more stable,” the 64-year-old leader said.

Modi has had difficulty delivering achievements domestically, but has been active on the international scene and compared the agreement with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.

“[Foreign policy] is one area where there has been unexpected and major progress,” said C Raja Mohan, an Indian foreign affairs analyst. “This will open the door for significant co-operations and economic engagement.”

Just an hour after Modi’s arrival in Dhaka, top Indian conglomerates signed outline agreements with Bangladesh’s state-run electricity agency to invest some $5bn in the country’s rickety power sector.

Indian officials said yesterday’s agreement sent an important signal that the border disputes that plague India’s relations with other regional powers could be solved, but added that disagreements with Bangladesh were easier to resolve than those with rival Asian giant China, or with Pakistan, with which India has fought four wars.

The agreement was also a boost for Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh. Hasina won a disputed election last year which was boycotted by the opposition and dismissed as lacking credibility by some western governments. She has been criticised since for cracking down on dissent.

Scores of people have been killed in firebomb attacks on vehicles since opposition leaders called a transport blockade at the start of the year in an attempt to oust the current government. Relations between India and its smaller neighbour have significantly improved since Hasina promised her administration would not allow India’s separatist insurgents to use the porous 2,500-mile border to carry out raids. Eighteen soldiers died in an ambush blamed on the separatists last week. The Indian army helped Bangladesh gain independence from Pakistan in a bloody nine-month war in 1971 and relations have usually been warm.

There are hopes now that the border agreement will also boost trade. It will allow tens of thousands of people living in 162 enclaves resulting from ownership arrangements made centuries ago by local princes either side of the border enclaves to choose their nationality after decades of stateless limbo. “This is a way of cleaning up the mess left by partition [of British India in 1947],” said Mohan. India’s parliament only gave its approval last month.

People living in the enclaves will be allowed to choose to live in India or Bangladesh, with the option of being granted citizenship in the newly designated territories, and the enclaves would effectively cease to exist.

Wary of China’s growing interest in India’s backyard, Modi has been keen to play a greater leadership role in South Asia since coming to power.

He is set to meet Khaleda Zia, the main Bangladesh opposition leader. Indian officials have played down the idea of Modi playing a mediation role in the dispute between Hasina and Zia, although he might press on Zia to ensure an end to anti-government attacks.

India held off from criticising Hasina’s re-election in January 2014.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...desh-seal-border-territories-deal-mido-hasina

 

[cobra commando]

Border Security Force, Border Guard Bangladesh agree on coordinated patrolling

KOLKATA: The Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) today agreed to conduct simultaneous coordinated patrolling in vulnerable and smuggling-prone areas to counter gold smuggling and FICN racket. The decision was taken after a four-day BSF- Region Commanders and BGB border conference here. "Various issues related to attack on the BSF troops by Bangladeshi criminals, smuggling of FICN, gold, cattle, theft, dacoity and abduction by Bangladeshi criminals, joint patrolling in vulnerable areas and confidence building measures between both the forces were discussed," a statement by the BSF said. "After due deliberations both forces agreed to conduct simultaneous co-ordination patrolling in vulnerable and smuggling-prone areas, educate border populations to respect the sanctity of International Boundary, organise games and sports on border by involving the troops and civilians. BGB also agreed to extend all cooperation in ops against FICN and gold racketeers," it stated. The BSF statement also stated that both forces mutually agreed that field commanders of BSF and BGB will meet frequently in near future and work out details for implementation of land boundary agreements whenever called upon by respective commanders.

Border Security Force, Border Guard Bangladesh agree on coordinated patrolling

 

[cobra commando]

Kolkata company to build Bhairab bridge in Bangladesh

 

[mahesh]

A Pin Code: That Will be India's First Gift to 14,000 New Citizens
At midnight on Friday, when India and Bangladesh officially swap land, the District Magistrate of Cooch Behar in West Bengal, P Ulaganathan, will experience what a civil servant might have experienced at Independence.

According to the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement, signed 41 years after it was endorsed, the two countries will swap 162 enclaves, whose 50,000-odd inhabitants have been deprived not only of nationality, but also public services. India will gain access to 55 Bangladesh enclaves that house 14,000 residents.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/a-pin-code-thatll-be-indias-first-gift-to-14-000-new-citizens-1202307


Bangladesh, India in historic land swap after nearly 4 decades
Ending more than four decades of wait, India and Bangladesh will start the exchange of 162 adversely-held enclaves from Friday, marking the start of implementation of their landmark land boundary agreement (LBA).

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...greement-to-start-today/article1-1374916.aspx

While India will hand over 51 enclaves, comprising 7,110 acres to Bangladesh, the neighbouring country will give India 111 enclaves comprising around 17,160 acres.

Bangladesh and India will implement the LBA of 1974 and the enabling Protocol of September, 2011, in a phased manner over the next 11 months

 

[I_PLAY_BAD]

Many Bangladeshis hate India, I mean MANY. Why ? Did we not help in creating that country ? Then why so much hatred ?

 

[desiwatcher]

the person who started this thread is attempting a false flag. i smell classic jamaati-BNP lines. everyone be warned. this fellow's a muhajir, not real bengali.

 

[spikey360]

I quite like Bangladesh. They have retained their Bengali character. In theory, they have put their Bengali identity above everything else, and that is quite appreciable, for a nation with a majority Muslim population.

 

[Mad Indian]

I quite like Bangladesh. They have retained their Bengali character. In theory, they have put their Bengali identity above everything else, and that is quite appreciable, for a nation with a majority Muslim population.

Yeah right. That's why they are persecuting their Hindus.

 

[spikey360]

Yeah right. That's why they are persecuting their Hindus.

For that, they will be punished.

 

[Mad Indian]

For that, they will be punished.

And that's what makes you lr previous point stupid

 

[spikey360]

And that's what makes you lr previous point stupid

Obviously no one taught you the carrot and stick way of doing things. You were taught in the George Bush school of you are either with us or against us. Such a simpleton.

 

[Sakal Gharelu Ustad]

Obviously no one taught you the carrot and stick way of doing things. You were taught in the George Bush school of you are either with us or against us. Such a simpleton.

Just like Pashtuns and Balochs have kept their identity even after being persecuted for 60+ years. Bangladesh, being in east Pak, was just far away to break away from Punjabi hegemony.

Given their current hand-chopping and murdering stints in broad daylight, I would not expect too much from them. I will wait for the drama to unfold when they start punishing more of the 71 war culprits. Oops..that is already more than 40 years! So much for the identity.