India, Bangladesh sign ratification pact to operationalise the historic Land Boundary Agreement

DHAKA: Marking a new high in bilateral ties, India and Bangladesh today sealed a historic deal to settle the 41-year-old land boundary dispute through exchange of territories, removing a major irritant in bilateral ties.

On the first day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit here, the two sides swapped documents regarding the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) that paves the way for the operationalisation of the 1974 pact under which 161 enclaves under the control of either countries will be exchanged.

The instruments of ratification were exchanged in the presence of Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina besides West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and his Bangladeshi counterpart Shahidul Haque signed the protocol.

"History is made as the Instruments of Ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement are exchanged," Modi tweeted.

The LBA was passed unanimously by the Parliament last month. Under the Agreement, 111 border enclaves will be transferred to Bangladesh in exchange for 51 that will become part of India.

Under the agreement, India will have an advantage of 500 acres and 10,000 acres will go to Bangladesh.

The agreement settles the question of citizenship for over 50,000 people.

The issue has been a major irritant in ties between the two countries which share a 4,096-km-long border, most of which is porous.

The boundary pact was signed in 1974 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to settle the border issue.

Huge billboards carrying photographs of Gandhi and Rahman signing the agreement were put up in various areas of Dhaka, reflecting the importance Bangladesh attached to the pact.

Ahead of his visit, Modi had said the Agreement marked a "watershed moment" in India's ties with Bangladesh.

Earlier, Banerjee had agreed to the LBA which had been pending for a long time.

Modi has cleared a rehabilitation package for West Bengal as part of the Indo-Bangla enclave exchange pact.