India - Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreements

India - Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreements 

• India shares 4096 km border with Bangladesh. It is India’s longest boundary with any neighbor.
• Four Indian states share boundary with Bangladesh. They are Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal.

Radcliffe Line

• After the partition of India in 1947, the Radcliffe Line became the border between India and East Pakistan and following the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, the same line became the border between India and Bangladesh.
• Radcliffe Line is named after its architect Sir Cyril Radcliffe.
• Radcliffe was a British civil servant and had never travelled to India and consequently, had no experience of serving in India.
• His hasty work left Enclaves, Adverse Possessions and Undemarcated boundaries on the ground.
• The Radcliffe line passed through villages, dividing communities and villages and in some cases putting the kitchen area on different sides of the line from the rest of a village hut.
• Radcliffe drew the line based on maps, making no effort to relate it to ground realities.
• India faced many border related problems with East Pakistan and thereafter, Bangladesh.
• Nehru-Noon agreement of 1958 was the first step in settling border disputes. But it could not settle many core issues regarding border disputes.
• Agreement concerning the Demarcation of the Land Boundary between India and Bangladesh and Related Matters of 1974 (1974 Land Boundary Agreement) was signed between the then Indian Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi and her Bangladesh counterpart Mujibur Rehman.
• 3 outstanding issues after the 1974 agreement:

1. Undemarcated land boundary of approximately 6.1 km

2. Exchange of enclaves

3. Adverse possessions

2011 Protocol – The solution

• In 2011, a Protocol was signed between the External Affairs Minister of India and the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh in the presence of the Prime Ministers of the two countries to address long pending land boundary issues between India and Bangladesh.
• This protocol is aimed at settlement of the outstanding land boundary issues between the two countries.
• The 2011 Protocol has been prepared with the full support and concurrence of the State Governments concerned (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal).

How will this protocol help?

• The agreement will contribute to a stable and peaceful boundary and create an environment conducive to enhanced bilateral cooperation.
• It will result in better management and coordination of the border.
• It will strengthen our ability to deal with smuggling, illegal activities and other trans-border crimes.

1. Undemarcated land boundary

It provides for demarcation along the Undemarcated land boundary

2. Enclaves

What are these enclaves?

• Enclaves are pieces of land which are totally surrounded by foreign territory. The enclaves along the Indo-Bangladesh border are also called Chitmahals or Pasha enclaves.
• It is interesting to note that the world’s only third order enclave - Dahala Khagrabari is along Indo-Bangladesh border. It is an Indian enclave inside a Bangladeshi territory which is itself inside an exclave of India in Bangladesh.

           

                                            

Problems in enclaves

• People living in the enclaves could not enjoy full legal rights as citizens of either India or Bangladesh.
• People could not get infrastructure facilities such as electricity, schools and health services properly.
• Law and order enforcement has been rather difficult in these areas as they remained inaccessible by law and order enforcing agencies.
• This along with weak property rights led to increased crime rate in these enclaves.

What will India transfer?

111 enclaves with a total area of 17,160.63 acres

What will Bangladesh transfer?

51 enclaves with an area of 7,110.02 acres

Is India losing its land through this agreement?

No, on the paper it may seem that India is losing its territories as it is giving more than it is receiving, the ground reality is actually different.

The enclaves are located deep inside the territory of both countries and there has been no physical access to them from either country.

The exchange of enclaves denotes only a notional exchange of land as the Protocol converts a de facto reality into a de jure situation.

3. Adverse Possessions

             

Bangladesh will transfer 2777.038 acres of land to India

India will transfer 2267.682 acres to Bangladesh

Constitution Amendment bill to implement Land Boundary Agreement [LBA]

Exchange of enclaves and the drawing of boundaries to maintain status quo of adverse possessions involving transfer and de jure control of territories requires a constitutional amendment under Article 368.

Article 368

Article 368 of the Constitution states that “an amendment of this Constitution may be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill for the purpose in either House of Parliament, and when the Bill is passed in each House by a majority of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting, it shall be presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill and thereupon the Constitution shall stand amended in accordance with the terms of the Bill.”

Now, the Constitution Amendment Bill to implement the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) Protocol has been passed by both houses of Parliament, paving the way for its implementation.

What will be the benefits of solving border disputes?

• The implementation of Land Boundary Agreement will promote enhanced bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh.
• The geo-strategic location of Bangladesh makes it an important player in the development of north-eastern states and India's Act East policy.
• Bangladesh has a pivotal role in providing seamless connectivity in the eastern region of the sub-continent.
• Railway connectivity between Akhaura and Agartala will enable trains to move from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka, easing travel for millions of Bangladeshi and Indian travellers and provide a cost effective freight transportation route.
• Similar cross border railway connectivity in the north on the Bangladesh-West Bengal border will provide connectivity that will help Bhutan and Nepal also.
• This will also lead in sub-regional cooperation development involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN).
• Illegal trade can be controlled. Illegal trade between India and Bangladesh is estimated to be double the legal trade which is worth $6 billion.