BSS, Dhaka :Dhaka and New Delhi have agreed to operationalise immediately an existing treaty for jointly combating terrorism and organized crime against the backdrop of the situation in Bangladesh.According to an Indian High Commission statement issued here on Friday the consensus came as the Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan overnight wrapped up talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in the Indian capital.”Both the home ministers agreed on the need to immediately operationalise the Agreement on Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking,” the statement said a day after the delegation-level meeting.It said, the two neighbours agreed to intensify further cooperation between their security and investigation agencies against the backdrop of the two back-to-back terrorist attacks in Bangladesh.”The two sides agreed to further strengthen the ongoing cooperation between the security and investigative agencies of the two countries through a programme of training, capacity building, information exchanges, etc,” the statement read.It said Singh proposed a round- the- clock anti-terrorism joint vigilance “channelizing efforts” to defeat the terrorism saying “the two countries have to be vigilant at all times and channelise efforts to defeat the terrorism and ensure peace, security and prosperity of the two countries”.Singh, the statement said, assured Bangladesh of India’s fullest support and cooperation in its fight against terrorism while condemning the horrific terrorist attacks in Dhaka this month and conveyed his deepest condolences. The Indian statement came as Bangladesh’s home ministry last night issued a press release saying India reiterated its readiness to offer all assistance to the next-door neighbor’s fight against terrorism appreciating Dhaka’s firm stance against militancy.”India reiterated its eagerness to offer whatever Bangladesh needs in the fight against terrorism and militancy” while the two ministers agreed to work in closer liaison to combat the menace, a Bangladesh home ministry release said after the meeting. It said, Singh highly appreciated Bangladesh’s stance against militancy under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership. The meeting endorsed a particular provision of the 2013 extradition treaty to ease repatriation of wanted persons, which the spokesman said, would benefit Bangladesh to get back wanted Bangladeshis and particularly the terrorists hiding in India.The Indian statement, meanwhile, said the two ministers expressed satisfaction over the signing of an addendum to the Bilateral Extradition Treaty of 2013 to “further streamline the treaty and to make it more effective”.Singh recalled the excellent and friendly bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh and expressed deep satisfaction over the ratification of the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement of 1974 and its Protocol of 2011 last year. He also expressed satisfaction over the timely completion of all aspects of the agreement, signing of 30 boundary strip maps pertaining to erstwhile adverse possessions and un-demarcated areas, completion of ground demarcation work, orderly movement of those enclave dwellers who chose to move to mainland India, completion of citizenship formalities of erstwhile enclave residents on both sides etc.
