Gogoi to PM: Take up deportation issue with Dhaka

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, June 2: Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has urged Prime Minister rendra Modi to take up the issue of deportation of illegal migrants with the Bangladesh government during his two-day visit to the neighbouring country.

Gogoi said though courts and tribuls have detected thousands of illegal migrants, Dhaka refuses to identify them as their citizens and take them back.

As such, detected illegal migrants are often “pushed-back” through some pockets of the intertiol border.

Gogoi said Modi should urge the Sheikh Hasi government to come up with a mechanism so that the detected illegal migrants can be deported promptly. “This would help address the problem of illegal migrants in Assam,” the CM said.

Gogoi has also asked the Prime Minister to pursue connectivity issues like enhancing rail, road and water connectivity between the neighbouring country and Assam to boost economic engagement.

Prime Minister rendra Modi begins his two-day maiden visit to Bangladesh on Saturday.

The visit is expected to impart a new momentum to overall bilateral ties, coming as it does in the wake of the Parliament's approval to a Constitution amendment bill providing for implementation of the 1974 land boundary agreement between the two neighbours to settle the 41-year-old border issue.

Both sides are likely to sign a number of deals including enhancement of connectivity to ensure greater people-to-people contact. Prime Minister Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasi are set to flag-off the bus services on Kolkata to Agartala via Dhaka and Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati routes.

The two countries are keen to strengthen railway connectivity, particularly to revive railway links which were in existence prior to 1965. The two countries are set to sign a coastal shipping agreement to facilitate sailing of small vessels from India to various ports in Bangladesh which now go through Singapore.

India will also push for involvement of Indian companies in setting up ports in Bangladesh.

The issue of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement is also likely to figure in the talks between the two Prime Ministers. The agreement, minus Pakistan, is likely to be signed soon.

India feels improving connectivity with Bangladesh will help linking the Northeastern region with Southeast Asia.

Interestingly, the rendra Modi government has reportedly not discussed anything with the Assam government regarding a number of issues concerning the State. On the other hand, Prime Minister Modi has invited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to accompany him during the Dhaka visit.