NEW DELHI, June 5 � Describing the Land Boundary Agreement as the centrepiece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s Bangladesh visit, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today said the land swap deal would stop illegal movement of people besides facilitate connectivity, trade and commerce benefiting the Northeast.
�The visit at one level will be affirmation of the Neighbourhood First Policy and the Act East Policy,� he said briefing newsmen here this afternoon a day ahead of the Prime Minister�s tour.
Detailing the Prime Minister�s schedule, who will reach Dhaka tomorrow accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Jaishankar said Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina would jointly flag-off two bus services � Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati and Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala.
�Contact and movement are important parts of our relationship... The key factor is connectivity. We expect more initiatives that would cover the bus service, movement of goods across the land border, coastal shipping and inland waterways,� the Foreign Secretary said.
Modi is also scheduled to meet the leaders of Bangladesh Opposition political parties, including BNP leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. He is also scheduled to address the Bangladeshi society.
The Prime Minister would be present at a ceremony where there would be exchange of instrument of the ratification of the LBA and its protocol. It would be followed by exchange of agreements.
Meanwhile, asked about the status of illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi�s letter to the Prime Minister regarding checking of influx, the Foreign Secretary played safe stating that the issue is not on his agenda. �Frankly speaking that is not part of my agenda, because it comes under another department. I would be careful on matters on which I don�t have oversight of,� the Foreign Secretary said.
About the schedule of implementation of the LBA, Jaishankar said that there will be a certain date called �Appointed Day�. �We will be having understanding of exchange of population. When we actually do that exchange, then we will be making public what are the modalities to deal with the consequences of implementing the LBA,� he said.
Asked about the demand of the Chief Ministers of the North Eastern States for access to the Chittagong Port, Jaishankar said, �We have been discussing the issues that deal with connectivity. One of the issues obviously is the possibility of how to use ports more effectively to carry goods.
�We are discussing how we can actually find a way, agreeing on coastal shipping, so that smaller crafts can load and unload goods. Obviously when you are going to load and unload, then we are going to discuss what happens to the goods after that. In think all these issues can be worked upon,� he said.
About the security situation, the Foreign Secretary said this issue has been part of continuous discussion with Bangladesh. �And again I must repeat that I can�t predict what is going to happen but we are surely going to raise this issue,� Jaishankar said.
�In terms of issues of the visit, we see at one level: across the board negotiations. Apart from the rising of confidence level, which is marked by management of the border, both the countries expect improvement of the security situation at the border, which would enable us to effectively deal with illegal activities across the border, like illegal movement of people and smuggling,� he said.