Dhaka: India and Bangladesh Tuesday cemented their ties by signing a comprehensive framework agreement and with pacts on a variety of issues ranging from land disputes to tiger conservation.

Hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived on a two-day visit, the two countries signed a protocol on demarcating their land boundary, a pact to facilitate overland transit to Nepal and on conserving the Royal Bengal Tiger -- and the Sundarbans.

The agreements were signed after Manmohan Singh, the first Indian prime minister to visit Bangladesh in 12 years, held delegation-level talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina for over half hour.

Both leaders also met separately for about 45 minutes

Manmohan Singh was accorded a warm welcome at the Shah Jalal International Airport here by Sheikh Hasina.

Accompanying the Indian prime minister were External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Chief Ministers Tarun Gogoi of Assam, Manik Sarkar of Tripura, Pu Lalthanhawla of Mizoram and Mukul Sangma of Meghalaya.

Manmohan Singh arrived here on a day that saw considerable diplomatic efforts following India's decision to postpone the Teesta water treaty agreement.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had refused to accompany Manmohan Singh to Dhaka to protest the final draft of the Teesta river water sharing agreement.

Bangladesh wanted to know from India as to why it was not going ahead with the Teesta deal.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mizarul Kayes queried Indian High Commissioner Rajeet Mitter on the delay in the Teesta deal, an official said.

"It is not acceptable to us at all" if India does not sign the deal after finalising details, Kayes was quoted as saying.

Mitter assured him that the accord would be inked as quickly as possible after finishing due consultations, the official added.

India and Bangladesh have a 2,979 km land border and a 1,116 km riverine boundary. The Indian states of West Bengal, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura share the 4,095-km border with Bangladesh, of which around six km is undemarcated.

(Rahul Dass can be contacted at rahul.d@ians.in)









 

Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

Karnataka mining baron, former BJP Minister Janardhana Reddy arrested

The CBI early Monday arrested former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister and lawmaker Galli Janaradhana Reddy here in a graft case   »

My assets are over Rs.1,000 crore, Reddy once said

Reddys' rise: Riding cycles to rattling BJP leadership

  Most Read

Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh became the latest high-profile politician to be sent  »

From stars to Tihar, Amar Singh's fall from grace

Flaws in online system make life tough for scholarship seekers

Minister of Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid launched the online scholarship management system April 15 for what the officials said to make scholarship applications and disbursement to the minority students smoother. However, far from achieving the said target, the system is  »

  News Pick

Americans today are generally more willing to believe that US policies in the Middle East might have motivated the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon, according to a new poll.  »

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Bihar government for an inquiry into a complaint that a government school was shut down for two days for the ruling Janata Dal-United's ally Bharatiya    »

The British government has recruited former MI5 spies in schools  »

Britain: Anti-extremism projects vs State funded Muslim schools

Picture of the Day

The 27th of Ramadan (August 26, 2011 this year), "Laylet al-Qadr" (Night of Power), is one of the holiest nights of the Islamic calendar, the night when the Quran began to be revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Millions from around the world visit the Grand Mosque in Makkah from all over the world and pray over the night.