Drafts of three deals finalised

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NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (bdnews24.com): Bangladesh and India have finalised the drafts of three bilateral agreements to be signed during prime minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi later this month.
Home secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar and his Indian counterpart G K Pillai finalised the drafts of agreements on Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Combating International Terrorism, Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking.
These were approved at the 10th home secretary level talks between Bangladesh and India in New Delhi. The four-day-talks concluded on Wednesday.
Sikdar and Pillai told a joint news-conference that both sides had agreed to develop a mechanism to further hasten the process of verification of nationality status of prisoners lodged in the jails of the two countries, particularly those who had already completed their sentences, so that they could be repatriated early.
Dhaka and Delhi also agreed to intensify efforts to locate criminals under Interpol Red Corner Notices in either country. The home secretaries of the two countries also agreed to take immediate action on the basis of real time and reliable information
"Both sides have condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reaffirmed their commitments not to allow the use of territory of either country for any activity inimical to each other's interests," said Sikdar.
The home secretaries stressed on the need to expedite the settlement of land boundary related issues, which would be discussed in the next meeting of the Joint Border Working Group.