Bangladesh News

Ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s official visit to India next month, home secretaries of the two countries are expected to start talks in New Delhi from Monday with illegal migration and cross-border movement of insurgents and criminals high on the agenda.

During the three-day meeting, the Indian delegation led by Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai, is scheduled to discuss Bangladesh’s cooperation to deal with militants and northeastern Indian insurgents that New Delhi alleges have been operating from Bangladesh, home ministry sources said in New Delhi on Saturday.

Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar will head the Bangladeshi delegation at the meeting.

India is satisfied with the cooperation it has got from Bangladesh on the security front and would seek further help from Dhaka in this area, they said.

Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram a few days before told the parliament that India has received “splendid cooperation” from the Sheikh Hasina’s government in tackling cross-border movement of militants and insurgents.

The Bangladesh government’s stance against the militants also gave appreciation from the paramilitary force Assam Rifles Director General Lt Gen K S Yadav who told reporters in Shillong on November 25, “It is a good thing that Bangladesh is cracking down on these elements”.

“We only hope that Bangladesh government will continue to ensure that those who are acting against the interests of India are not given shelter,” he said.

Officials in New Delhi described the drive launched by Bangladesh law enforcement agencies against Ulfa militants as a “positive” development, which is believed to have led to the arrest of two top leaders of the insurgents’ outfit Sashadhar Choudhury and Chitraban Hazarika along Tripura’s border with Bangladesh early this month.

At the home secretary-level meeting, India is likely to push Bangladesh once again to take steps for handing over another Ulfa leader Anup Chetia to face trial in this country, sources said.

They said handing over of Chetia would mark a major confidence-building measure between India and Bangladesh and pave the way for more substantive achievements in bilateral ties in other sectors as well.

Bangladesh however expects India to appreciate the pace of its response, given the domestic sensitivities on certain issues, they added.

The home secretaries are likely to give finishing touches to a proposed mutual legal assistance treaty for exchange of Indian and Bangladeshi nationals convicted by courts in the two countries, said the sources. The treaty is likely to be signed during Hasina’s visit to India.

Illegal migration is another major issue that has been nagging the bilateral relations.

Among other issues to figure in the meeting are smuggling of narcotics, fake currencies and a strategy to combat these problems