Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan reaches MHA to meet Home Minister Amit Shah Wednesday. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)HOME MINISTER Amit Shah on Wednesday raised the issues of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants settling in the Northeast and repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar with visiting Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan during a bilateral meeting here on Wednesday.
Khan was in Delhi for the seventh meeting of the India-Bangladesh Home Minister Level Talks.
According to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Shah “raised India’s concern regarding the illicit movement of undocumented persons across the border, with a view to find solutions to this problem especially in Northeast India”.
Shah’s assertion comes against the backdrop of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam scheduled to be published at the end of this month. The government, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, has raised doubts over the enumeration carried out during the initial list, which excluded more than 40 lakh people.
The MHA has been pushing for verification of enumeration samples.
Shah also raised the issue of Rohingya, who have taken refuge in India and Bangladesh following religious persecution in Myanmar, and assured Bangladesh of all support in their repatriation.
“The Indian Home Minister assured the Home Minister of Bangladesh of India’s continuing support for safe and speedy repatriation of the displaced Myanmar citizens sheltered in Bangladesh, for whom India has provided humanitarian assistance in four tranches since September 2017,” a statement issued by MHA said. India has maintained that Rohingya need to be sent back to Myanmar and has been putting pressure on the latter to take them back.
Apart from this, the ministers discussed issues related to bilateral security co-operation and prevention of transporter crimes. “Both the Home Ministers reaffirmed the need to further curb the menace of trans-border crimes, and therefore agreed to the need for greater co-operation to achieve our aim of a secure border. Both sides also reviewed the pending issues related to security and infrastructure at the borders, and agreed to take steps towards the expedited resolution of these matters,” the statement said.
The leaders also looked forward to enhancing cooperation in simplifying people-to-people contact and travel for business, health and tourism, including through promoting connectivity, it added. Officials said Shah expressed India’s full support to Sheikh Hasina government’s development agenda and reiterated the long history of India-Bangladesh ties through shared cultural experience.
