Dhaka – Bangladesh and India on Tuesday agreed to share information on terrorists and insurgents through mutual understanding to eliminate terrorism and insurgency in the two neighbouring countries.
“We both sides are on the same stance that we can eradicate any kind of terrorism and insurgency through bilateral understanding and intelligence sharing as well as law enforcement,” Home Ministry senior secretary Mozammel Haque Khan told reports following a two-day secretary-level meeting between Bangladesh and India at a city hotel.He further said, “We informed them that there’s no activity of Indian insurgents in Bangladesh as they’ve no den here. We’re very alert so that no one can carry out such activities also in disguise from here.”
Mozammel said the Indian delegation said they will inform Bangladesh if they get any information about militancy and extremism.
Dr Mozammel Haque Khan led the Bangladesh side while Indian home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi his country’s team at the meeting that began on Monday.
The senior home secretary said both sides are ready to solve any bilateral problem through discussions. “We hope our discussions and the decisions we have made at the meeting will be very fruitful for the two nations.”
About firing along the border, he said they raised the issue with due importance and sought India’s cooperation in bringing down border killing to a zero level. “They’ve agreed with us and assured us of working together with sincerity in this regard.”
The senior secretary focused on educating people of the two countries so that they do not trespass the borders and follow international rules and regulations in this regard.
The meeting also discussed some other issues, including women and children trafficking, drug smuggling and illegal trespass of Indian fishermen into Bangladesh water territories.
“We specifically informed our counterpart that Indian fishermen illegally enter our water areas for fishing. They acknowledged it, saying they’ll remain more alert in this regard,” Mozammel said.
After the meeting, the home secretary said 62 Bangladeshi criminals have been languishing in Indian jails as per the information they have so far. “They’ll be brought back as early as possible as the Indian team has assured us of proving cooperation in this regard.”
As part of the two-day meeting, members of joint working groups of both the countries also had a meeting on Monday afternoon to finalise the agenda of Tuesday’s secretary-level talks.- Agencies
