Indo-Bangladeshi Border Talks End Without Tangible ResultThe three-day talks on outstanding border issues between Bangladesh and India ended Wednesday in Dhaka without any tangible result as both sides stood firm on their conflicting positions on exchange of enclaves and adverse possessions of land.Sharp difference surfaced at the border talks after the Indian side proposed for fresh survey of the enclaves, which Bangladesh side rejected, sources said. The Indian delegation is learnt to have proposed that a joint survey be held to demarcate the enclaves and adverse possessions, although these have been clearly defined in the 1974 Mujib-Indira agreement. It also stressed the need for a census in some territories earmarked for transfer. The Bangladeshi team, on the other hand, maintained that the agreement specifically spelled out details of the transfer and any suggestion to the contrary was "extraneous to the agreement." An agreed minutes and a joint communique were issued on the concluding day of the talks in which different view points were recorded. The talks were seen as crucial against the backdrop of worst ever border clashes in the middle of April that left 16 Indian and three Bangladeshi border troops killed. Sporadic incidents of firing by the Border Security Force of India and the latest one on Friday last resulting seven deaths after the April clashes have created insecurity at several points of the 4,000 kilometers land boundary of the two countries. |
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