There has been no cross-border infiltration to India since 1971, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan reasserted on Thursday in an interview with News18. This comes days Amit Shah expressed the Indian government’s commitment to “throwing out all illegal infiltrators” during his visit to West Bengal recently.
“I would like to stress that no one from Bangladesh has entered India illegally after 1971. India is our good friend and I believe that such issues will not affect our relationship with India,” said Khan, adding that the issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Act is “India’s internal matter”.
He said, “We have nothing to do with the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). After Bangladesh was liberated no one went to India illegally. During partition people migrated to India, but not after the partition.”
Recently, Union Home Minister Shah had said that the implementation of the CAA was imminent following its passage in the Parliament and it will happen soon as the process has been delayed due to COVID-19.
“There are no reasons that people will illegally move to India from Bangladesh. Why will they? Bangladesh is not a poor country where people will migrate illegally to India. Our current economic growth, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and per capita income are very good. Living standard is also good in Bangladesh,” Khan added.
On incidents of firing along the international border areas between Bangladesh and India, Khan said, “Such firing should not happen. In case of any emergency situation, I think non-lethal weapons should be used to tackle criminal activities at the border. People’s lives should not be lost through because of such shellings. We share a very cordial relationship with India and we will continue to carry it forward.”
India shares a 4,096-km-long border with Bangladesh. The Indian side of the Indo-Bangladesh border passes through West Bengal (2216.7 Km), Assam (263 Km), Meghalaya (443 Km), Tripura (856 Km) and Mizoram (318 Km).
The CAA seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
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