India hopeful of finalising terms of reference with Bangladesh

NEW DELHI, JUNE 12. India today hoped to finalise terms of reference for two working groups with Bangladesh on pending border issues. ``We expect to finalise the terms of reference,'' a spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry told reporters referring to New Delhi's first official level talks with Dhaka since the killing of 16 soldiers of the Border Security Force in border clashes in April.

The two sides, which would also go into the question of 6.5 km of undemarcated boundary, acknowledged the efforts of the Indian and Bangladeshi survey teams in demarcating more than 4,000 km of boundary, he said.

The Indian side was led by Ms. Meira Shankar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs. It also included officials from the Home Ministry and the Water Resources Ministry, representatives of the BSF, the Directorate of Land Records and Survey, West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya, the Census Commission and the Legal Affairs Department. The 11-member Bangladeshi delegation, headed by Mr. Janibul Haque, Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry, included officials from the Foreign, Parliamentary Affairs and Law and Justice Ministries, the Bangladesh Rifles, Directorate of Land Records and the Joint Rivers Commission. The two countries would discuss, during the two-day parleys, matters relating to exchange of enclaves and the issue of ``adversely possessed land'' in the context of a 1974 agreement, the spokesman said.

At Dhaka's request, New Delhi had sent a draft terms of reference in February on the two working groups. The terms and modalities for their operation were expected to be finalised soon.

The April border clashes further underscored the need to address the boundary issues quickly and in a purposeful manner, the sources said.

- UNI, PTI

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