Buddhadeb urges Centre to talk to Bangladesh on enclave issue

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today asked the Centre to talk to Bangladesh to resolve the problem of enclaves in adverse possession of the two countries.

"Since the time of former chief minister Jyoti Basu, we have been taking up the issue of these enclaves with the Centre but nothing has been done. The Centre should talk to the friendly Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh to resolve the problem", Bhattacharjee told a public meeting in this north Bengal town.

"A chaotic condition now prevails in those enclaves. It is difficult to ascertain citizenship of the people living in those enclaves", he said as a section of the crowd waved placards demanding the enclaves be exchanged.

In 1974, both India and Bangladesh had agreed to exchange the enclaves or at least provide easy access to the enclaves but since then little has materialised. Talks between the two countries on the issue resumed in 2001 but lack of a concrete time frame has relegated the issue to the back burner.

There were a total of 126 Indian enclaves on the Bangladesh side and 96 Bangladesh enclaves on this side of border.