NEW DELHI:
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Dhaka later this week, the President has approved the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement which will help India strengthen its ties with its neighbour.
President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Constitution (100th Amendment) Bill, 2015 on May 28 to ratify a 1974 agreement on the demarcation of a section of India-Bangladesh border and transfer of territories, Parliament sources said today. A gazette notification has already been issued.
The 1974 pact was signed between the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and former Bangladesh President Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. It was ratified by Bangladeshi Parliament almost immediately after parliament in India ratified it only last month.
The sources pointed out that though it was a Constitutional amendment bill, its provisions do not require ratification by 50 per cent of the legislatures in 29 states.
Prime Minister Modi is travelling to Dhaka on June 6 and return on 7.
The bill paves the way for the demarcating the border as well as an exchange of over 160 enclaves between the two countries. Bangladesh will receive 111 enclaves (17,160 acres) from India’s possession and India will receive 51 enclaves (7,110 acres) from Bangladesh. Enclaves are tiny landlocked territories that each country has within the borders of the other nation. (AGENCIES)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel