India-B’desh land boundary Bill gets RS nod

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 6

Marking a rare show of bonhomie, the Rajya Sabha today unanimously passed the historic Constitution amendment Bill to operationalise India’s Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh — a legislation that will not just act as a showcase of the BJP-led NDA’s attempts to improve political relations and deepen economic partnerships in the region but also improve living standards of the people in the disputed areas.

The mood was set with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gave credit to the previous Congress-led UPA government for introducing the Bill.

Swaraj said the government will ensure that the Indians moving to Bangladesh enjoy a “dignified life”. There would not be any “demographic change or exchange” and people from either side can avail the citizenship they wish. Allaying fears that the agreement may lead to shrinking of borders, she said India would instead gain 500 acres.

“Though 10,000 acres will go to them, it is just notional and those enclaves are deep,” she said. So far as Assam is concerned, India will get 470 acres of land from the neighbouring country, while 268 acres would go to Bangladesh. When the Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 18, 2013, by the then External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, it faced stiff opposition from the BJP, the TMC and the AGP. As the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Swaraj had said, “The government cannot pass this Bill without our support and we will not support this Bill”.

Presenting the Bill today, Swaraj reasoned why her party was opposed to the Bill. She said it was because Assam’s views had not been taken into consideration. Trinamool was worried about its impact on West Bengal.

“This is a historic occasion. We are going to implement the agreement after 41 years. I am happy that everyone supported the Bill. We are aware of the complexities involved in the implementation of the agreement. Earlier we implement (the agreement), sooner we reap the benefits,” she added. The government included Assam after Congress and other political parties insisted on the inclusion of the state in the agreement, which will be presented in the LS tomorrow.