India has assured Bangladesh of continuing support for safe and speedy repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. The assurance was given during talks between Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and his Indian counterpart Amit Shah at the latter’s North Block office in New Delhi on Wednesday night.
“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,” an official statement issued by New Delhi said.
The two leaders also looked forward to enhancing cooperation in simplifying people-to- people contact and travel for business, health and tourism, including through promoting connectivity, said the statement. This was the seventh meeting of the India-Bangladesh Home Minister-level talks which was co-chaired by Shah and Asaduzzaman Khan.
“Both the Ministers reiterated the significance attached to the Bangladesh-India relationship forged in the 1971 Liberation War, which goes far beyond a strategic partnership,” said the statement. “Today, our ties are a role model for good neighbourly relations across the world. They are rooted in history, culture, language and shared values of democracy, secularism, development cooperation and countless other commonalities,” it added.
During the meeting, the two Ministers expressed satisfaction that both countries are working closer than ever before in every sector, including security and border management and reiterated their commitment to keep the borders friendly, and in this regard appreciated the close co-operation between their border guarding forces f the two countries, according to the statement.
“The Indian Home Minister appreciated Bangladesh’s policy of not allowing use of its territory by extremists and insurgents for perpetrating violence in other countries including India,” it said. The statement said the gamut of issues related to bilateral security co-operation were discussed during the meeting. “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,” it said.
The two sides also reviewed the pending issues related to security and infrastructure at the borders and agreed to take steps towards expedited resolution of these matters. Amit Shah raised India’s concern regarding “illicit movement of undocumented persons across the border, with a view to find solutions to this problem especially in North East India,” said the statement.
Shah congratulated Asaduzzaman Khan on his resumption of office as Home Minister of Bangladesh for a second term and reiterated India’s full support for Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s development agenda. Both the ministers stressed on cooperation between border guarding forces of the ttwo countries for effective management of the border. The two sides also decided to jointly work to stop cross-border smuggling of drugs and other goods.
Asaduzzaman invited Shah to visit Bangladesh.included High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali, Mostafa Kamal Uddin, Secretary of Public Security Division, Security Services Division Secretary Mohd Shahiduzzaman, IGP Mohd Javed Patowari, BGB Director General Maj Gen Safinul Islam, Passport and Immigration Department DG Maj Gen Sohail Hossain Khan, Narcotics Control Department DG Jamal Uddin Ahmed, DG PMO Nilima Akhter and DG Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohd Tareq.
The Indian team at the meeting included besides Amit Shah, Ministers of State for Home G Kishan Reddy and Nityanand Rai, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Secretary (Border Management B R Sharma.