Thaindian News

New Delhi/Dhaka, Aug 30 (IANS) India and Bangladesh are set to sign a deal to swap 162 enclaves to resolve their over six-decades-old border dispute during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s historic visit to Dhaka next week.

The border deal will be the highlight of Manmohan Singh’s two-day visit to Dhaka starting Sept 6 that takes place in a new atmosphere of mutual trust with both sides showing strong political will to remake the relationship that stagnated during the previous regime in Dhaka.

For the first time, Manmohan Singh will be accompanied by five chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, and those of the northeastern states of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

Manmohan Singh’s visit is also expected to see significant initiatives by India to reduce the trade deficit, an irritant in bilateral ties, and fresh announcements on assistance to new infrastructure projects in Bangladesh.

The border deal is understood to have been finalized, with a joint survey of some enclaves expected to be completed in the next couple of days.

The enclaves refer to islands of land resulting from traditional ownership arrangements that survived both the partition of the sub-continent after the end of British rule in 1947 and Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

A joint census of 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladeshi territory and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in Indian territory concluded on July 18. The survey showed 51,000 people lived in these landlocked islands. Most residents of these enclaves have indicated that they will like to continue staying where they are.

“Issues related to land boundary between India and Bangladesh, including un-demarcated stretches on 6.1 km and exchange of enclaves are being negotiated…there is a good possibility that these matters will be resolved when prime minister visits Bangladesh,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram had told the Rajya Sabha last week.

Last month, Chidambaram said surveyors found several enclaves had no residents. According to an estimate, 3,000 acres of Bangladesh land are inside India while India has around 3,500 acres of land inside Bangladesh.

Chidambaram had said the issues of lands in adverse possession were also “nearly resolved.”

India and Bangladesh share over 4,000 kilometers of common porous borders.

National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon Monday met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and held talks with officials in Dhaka to firm up deals on on trade, border, water and security that are expected to be signed during Manmohan Singh’s “historic” visit.

“We have sorted out everything related to the visit,” Sheikh Hasina’s foreign affairs adviser Gawher Rizvi said, adding that the visit would “a historic moment” to “chart out the future directions” of the two neighbours.