India, Bangla put resolution of boundary issue on fast track

Amid the new-found bonhomie, India and Bangladesh have decided to put the process of resolving land boundary issue on fast track with an aim of completing it within 18-24 months.

Amid the new-found bonhomie, India and Bangladesh have decided to put the process of resolving land boundary issue on fast track with an aim of completing it within 18-24 months.

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It was also agreed that a railway line would be built between Akhaura in Bangladesh to Agartala, which could lead to addressing India's demand for transit through Bangladesh as Kolkata-Dhaka-Akhaura railway connectivity already exists.

A Joint Statement issued in New Delhi on Tuesday following talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina last evening said the two countries decided to enhance connectivity and boost trade while addressing each other's security concerns.

"Both Prime Ministers agreed to comprehensively address all outstanding land boundary issues keeping in view the spirit of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement. In this context, they agreed to convene the Joint Boundary Working Group to take this process forward," it said.

Official sources said the two sides have set a target of 18 to 24 months to settle all border issues, including adverse possession comprising areas that either country controls without properly demarcated boundary.

India and Bangladesh share 4,096 km long boundary out of which 6.1 km is undemarcated.

At the talks, the two Prime Ministers agreed on the need for amicably demarcating the maritime boundary, an issue that has been taken by Bangladesh to the arbitrator UN Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS).