16 February 2003, Daily Star
Morshed meets Vajpayee, Advani
Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
New Delhi yesterday asked Dhaka to immediately take steps to tackle "presence
of insurgent training camps in Bangladesh" and large-scale "illegal
immigration".
Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan (L) gestures during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi yesterday. Photo: AFP
Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani also asked visiting Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan to hand over "88 terrorists". The list of terrorists was given to Bangladesh last year.
After the meeting, Morshed told reporters that many Bangladeshi criminals had
taken shelter in India and "illegal immigration on both sides is a matter
of concern".
Morshed also said Bangladesh would never allow its territory to be used for
activities directed against a third country.
"We don't know the number (of illegal immigrants), but it can happen with
4,000-odd miles of border between us. The number could be 10 or five or none,"
he told journalists.
Morshed later had a half-an-hour meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who reiterated India's concern over "illegal immigration".
Indian Home Secretary RCA Jain told reporters that Bangladesh had committed to fight terrorism but did not specify.
"There was no express commitment for any specific action or promise of
demonstrative action from their side," Jain said.
Advani told Morshed that Indian security forces have busted several ISI modules
in India and wanted Dhaka's cooperation in the fight against terrorism, he said.
Morshed invited Advani to visit Bangladesh, Jain said.
AFP adds: Morshed and his counterpart Yashwant Sinha on Friday decided to hold
foreign secretary-level talks in Dhaka in April to resolve the thorny immigration
issue.
India announced last month a drive to deport millions of Bangladeshis it said
had entered its territory illegally and could pose a security threat.
The issue bubbled over into a major diplomatic crisis last week when a group of snake charmers was apprehended by Indian border guards in eastern West Bengal state.
New Delhi said the 213 men, women and children held in no man's land between the two countries were Bangladeshis and should be taken back, while Dhaka said they were Indians.
After days of diplomatic tensions, the group left no man's land. India claims they were taken back by Bangladesh, but Khan denied this.
"We have not taken them back. I don't know where they have gone. They have gone back to where ever they came from, but we have not taken them," he said.
International human rights group Amnesty International yesterday said it was gravely concerned over recent reports about the fate of people whose nationality was disputed along the Indian-Bangladeshi border.
Amnesty said these people were subjected to "push-in" and "push-out" attempts by security forces on both sides.
"The organisation considers that such collective expulsions by India and Bangladesh across the border without offering recourse to judicial remedy or appeal to the persons being expelled appear to be arbitrary and to deny them their fundamental human rights," Amnesty said in a statement.
Amnesty asked both governments to refrain from mass expulsions and to ensure that anyone who was expelled was provided with competent legal representation.
It also said detainees should be protected from mob attacks and be given food,
shelter and medical facilities.