Bangladesh, India premiers sign development, border deals

Sep 6, 2011, 17:04 GMT

Dhaka - The prime ministers of Bangladesh and India on Tuesday made some progress on border negotiations, which have long marred relations between the South Asian neighbours.

Indian and Bangladeshi officials agreed on a protocol to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement, which will alleviate tensions along the 6.5 kilometres of undemarcated and disputed border area.

Ever since Bangladesh was created in 1971, residents of Bangladeshi enclaves inside Indian territory and those in Indian enclaves within Bangladesh have been rendered stateless.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that from now on, those living in Bangladeshi enclaves 'will have 24-hour unfettered movements' through Indian territory.

This was the first visit to Bangladesh by an Indian prime minister in more than a decade, and Manmohan Singh was accompanied by his cabinet ministers and the chief ministers of four Indian states landlocked behind Bangladesh.

But the two countries failed to reach an agreement on the sharing of waters of the Teesta and Feni, two cross-boundary rivers.

Optimistic about a future settlement, Singh said: 'Our common rivers need not be sources of discord, but can become the harbingers of prosperity to both our countries.'

The two sides also signed agreements related to renewable energy and the conservation of the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger in the Sundarbans mangrove forests.

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