Delhi seeks Dhaka’s help in repatriation of ‘illegals’

Days after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, New Delhi yesterday sought Dhaka’s cooperation in expediting the repatriation of alleged undocumented Bangladeshis from India.

The request follows Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman’s remark that Dhaka would take action if pushback incidents occur under the changed political circumstances in West Bengal following the BJP’s victory in the state.

Responding to Khalilur’s remarks, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the comments must be viewed in a certain context.

“We have seen comments of this nature being made in the last several days. These comments must be seen in the context of the core issue of the repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis from India. This obviously requires cooperation from Bangladesh. Over 2,860 cases of nationality verification are pending with Bangladesh, and several of them have been pending for over five years...” Jaiswal said.

He further added, “We expect Bangladesh to expedite nationality verification so that the repatriation of illegal immigrants can take place smoothly.”

The MEA spokesperson noted that the repatriation of “illegal” Bangladeshi immigrants would require cooperation from Dhaka.

The development comes just three days after the BJP registered a landslide victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, winning 207 seats in the 294-member House.

The issue of illegal infiltration was among the BJP’s key poll planks in Bengal. The saffron party had vowed to stop infiltration by ensuring fencing along the Bangladesh border in West Bengal.

The party had also promised to identify illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state and deport them to Bangladesh.