A new chapter of friendship is all set to open between India and Bangladesh with Lok Sabha, showing rare unanimity, passing the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill on Thursday that allows operationalisation of the 2011 Land Boundary Agreement Protocol signed between former PM Manmohan Singh and her Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
A new chapter of friendship is all set to open between India and Bangladesh with Lok Sabha, showing rare unanimity, passing the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill on Thursday that allows operationalisation of the 2011 Land Boundary Agreement Protocol signed between former PM Manmohan Singh and her Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
All the 331 members present in the House voted for the bill which became the 100th Constitutional amendment passed by Parliament. The bill was passed by all 181 members present in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. To become an operational Act the bill now will be sent to the President for his assent.
A team of Bangladesh officials was present in the diplomatic gallery of the Lok Sabha to witness the historic moment of passage of the bill that is considered to be key achievement of Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government in Bangladesh.
As soon as the bill got passed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself walked up to the opposition benches to thank leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, BJD's B Mahtab, TMC's Sudip Bandopadhyay and AIADMK leader P Venugopal.
Minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj who piloted the bill refuted allegations of India's alleged "big brother" attitude and said, "One is "big brother" which symbolises arrogance. But there is also the elder brother who is caring. Ours is a caring attitude. India will maintain the attitude of the elder brother with our neighbours."
She also announced a package of Rs 3,008 crore to West Bengal for rehabilitation Indian nationals that will come from Bangladesh once the enclaves and adverse possession areas are transferred. Their number is estimated to go up to 35,000.
Of this amount, Rs775 crore is for expenses on fixed infrastructure and the remaining amount would be for variable expenses, depending upon how many people are to be rehabilitated by the state government.
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