India, B'desh resolve to take action against militant outfits

Dhaka, Aug 31 (UNI) India and Bangladesh today agreed to take action against militants and insurgent outfits and reaffirmed their commitment not to allow their territory to be used for any activity inimical to each other's interest.

A two-day Home Secretary-level meeting that ended here agreed to take action against the insurgent outfits and their leaders on the basis of real time and actionable information to be exchanged between the nodal points.

The meeting agreed to take steps against smuggling of arms, ammunitions, explosives and fake currency and bring the culprits to justice.

A joint press release issued after the meeting said the Indian side led by Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta sought Bangladesh's cooperation to trace the presence of Indian insurgent groups allegedly based in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh side led by Home Secretary Abdul Karim also sought India's cooperation to take preventive measures against anti-Bangladesh outfits based in India.

Both the sides agreed that the verification process of released prisoners of one country held in the prisons of the other country should be expedited and modalities in this respect would be worked out.

Asked whether some ULFA leaders who are reportedly in Bangladesh jails would come under this process, both the Home Secretaries told a joint press briefing that they were not considering individuals but wanted to set up a mechanism to expedite the process of those prisoners who completed their jail terms.

Bangladesh Home Secretary Abdul Karim said this would not be applicable to those who are in court custody.

On the Indian proposal on construction of border fence, the Bangladesh side stated that the matter would be further examined including joint visits to vulnerable sections of the border by the BDR and the BSF.

The meeting, however, did not make any precise progress on demarcation of 6.5 km of border between the two countries. The two sides agreed to convene a meeting of the Joint Boundary Working Group at an early date to discuss all outstanding boundary related issues.

Both sides agreed that apart from sharing information between the two nodal-points and follow-up action, there was a strong need to identify the racketeers engaged in human trafficking, especially women and children, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The meeting agreed to enhance cooperation between the Narcotics Control Departments of the two countries and a meeting of the two departments would be held in October in New Delhi.

Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation towards capacity building, including training of law enforcement agencies of the two countries.

The meeting expressed satisfaction at the successful reactivation of the Joint Working Group at the level of Joint Secretaries and designation of nodal points to deal with the issues of security and human trafficking.

The Bangladesh side mentioned about the recently introduced legal regime that has been established to deal with anti-terrorism, prevent terrorist financing and money laundering.

Both the sides agreed to ensure peace along the border, keeping in mind relevant provisions of the Joint Border Management Guidelines of 1975.

The next Home Secretary level meeting would be held in New Delhi and the date would be fixed through diplomatic channel.

Mr Gupta made a courtesy call on Home Adviser Maj Gen (retd) M A Matin and met with Army Chief Gen Moeen U Ahmed.

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