NEW DELHI, March 7 - In a significant disclosure, the Centre has ruled out the possibility of India signing another agreement with Bangladesh on the issue of taking back illegal migrants.
In a Rajya Sabha reply, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that there was no proposal to sign another agreement with Bangladesh. The Government of India has extensive engagement with the Government of Bangladesh under various bilateral mechanisms like the Joint Consultative Commission, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary-level talks, Joint Working Group on Security and Border Management, Joint Task Forces on Human Trafficking, fake currency notes, etc. All issues of relevance and importance relating to security and border management, including the issue of illegal migrants, are raised at these bilateral talks, he said.
In reply to a separate question, Rijiju said that out of a sanctioned length of 3,326 km, 2,746 km of fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border have been completed. �The land acquisition process on the Indo-Bangladesh border is time-consuming and cumbersome due to which the progress has been slow. In addition to pending land acquisition, limited working seasons due to heavy rainfall, extended rainy season in the northeastern parts of the country and difficult terrain have also been affecting the pace of the work,� he added.
