The army-backed interim administration in Bangladesh is ready to do business with India and pay heed to New Delhi’s major concerns on security and better border management.
Decides not to allow militants use its territory for ‘inimical’ activities
NEW DELHI: The army-backed interim administration in Bangladesh is ready to do business with India and pay heed to New Delhi’s major concerns on security and better border management.
India and Bangladesh wrapped up an intensive round of discussion in Dhaka on Tuesday on a high note and pledged not to allow each other’s territory be used for activities “inimical’’ to each other.
Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon was in Dhaka for consultations with his Bangladesh counterpart Touhid Hossain. For India, Dhaka’s commitment to ensure that its soil will not be used for anti-India activities is a major step in improvingforeign relations.
“The two sides emphasised the need for enhanced security cooperation particularly by information sharing,’’ a joint statement released simultaneously in both Capitals said.
India’s rambling 4,096 kilometer boundary with Bangladesh, much of which is still not fenced, has always been a major security concern for New Delhi. The vulnerable and porous borders have been used in the past by Islamic terror groups to strike at soft targets in the heart of the country. This was an alternative route used by terrorists, once it became difficult to infiltrate through the Kashmir border.
North eastern militant groups, especially the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), have camps in Bangladesh and often cross over to escape the Indian army. New Delhi is hopeful that the present administration in Dhaka will close down these camps and ensure that they are not used for anti-India activities.
Earlier administrations had denied that camps existed in Bangladesh and asked India to pinpoint them.
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