Bangladesh\\\'s landmass will increase by 10,050 acres

Bangladesh’s landmass will increase by 10,050 acre more when it gets 111 enclaves from India on July 1. The much-awaited Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) was ratified by both Indian and Bangladeshi parliamemnts and the two countries exchanged Instruments of Ratification of 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and its 2011 Protocol on June 6, clearing the path for the land transfer. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed the historic deal with the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on May 16 in 1974 in New Delhi by realising the importance and depth of the problems related to Bangladesh-India boundary. The documents of the ratified deal was finally exchanged by the foreign secretaries of the two neighbouring countries on June 6 in the presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Dhaka. India and Bangladesh jointly possess 17,160 acres of land and Bangladesh would get 10,050 acre more from its next-door neighbour once the LBA is implemented, PM Hasina has informed the parliament. She was answering to a question raised by treasury bench member SM Mostafa Rashidi Suja in the House during her question answer session. Bangladesh and India agreed to start the transfer of enclaves from July 31 midnight. Bangladesh has 51 enclaves inside India, covering a total of 7,110 acres. India’s 111 enclaves inside Bangladesh jointly comprising 17,160 acres of land. The exchange would make the countries owner of the enclaves inside their territory. “Bangladesh would get 10,050 acres more as a result of the exchange,” Hasina said. Citizenship of the people living in the enclaves would also change but a person was free to retain nationality of the previous country, she said in her reply to SM Mostafa Rashidi. “Indian Parliament’s ratification of the agreement solved the problem that persisted for 68 years. This is a diplomatic success of the Awami League government.” The protocol to the agreement said India will not get compensation for its loss of over 10,000 acres of land after transfer of enclaves. It will also solve the issues related to Adversely Possessed Lands (APL). India will get ownership of 2,777 acres of land under its adverse possession, while Bangladesh will own 2,267 acres. British rulers had left behind the oddity of the enclaves while partitioning India in 1947. The 1974 Indira-Mujib treaty aimed at solving the problems. Bangladesh ratified the treaty the same year but it could not be implemented because of India’s unwillingness. In 2011, the countries again signed a protocol to the agreement but it took until May 2015 to clear the roadblocks when Indian Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha ratified the 41-year old agreement, according to a news agency.