Bangladesh and India are said to have made progress in the negotiation for a bilateral extradition treaty and the neighbours hope to finalise a draft by early next year.
Home secretary Monzur Hussain and his Indian counterpart R K Singh on Saturday reviewed the progress on the negotiation for the proposed extradition treaty and are understood to have agreed to expedite the process to complete the legal framework for bilateral security cooperation.
Hussain and Singh are leading the delegations of Bangladesh and India, respectively, in the 12th round of home secretary-level parleys, which commenced in New Delhi on Saturday. Although two sides agreed to move faster on the proposed extradition treaty, reported excesses by the personnel of India's Border Security Force continued to be a sticky point.
Sources in Indian government said that Hussain drew Singh's attention to the latest incident of killing of a Bangladeshi citizen by the BSF soldiers at the borders.
Hussain is also understood to have reminded Singh that Indian home minister P Chidambaram had said in Dhaka last July that the BSF had been asked to exercise restraint.
A Bangladeshi citizen was shot dead by the BSF soldiers at Shingnogor adjoining the borders. The Border Guards Bangladesh sent a protest letter to the BSF.
The two-day talks between the home secretaries will conclude on Sunday.
An official statement from the India's ministry of home affairs said "security and border management, police-to-police co-operation in capacity building and training" were among the major issues on the agenda of the talks between Hussain and Singh.
After the first day's talks on Saturday, Hussain said the parleys were taking place in a very cordial atmosphere. Singh echoed him and added that both the countries would continue strengthening bilateral security co-operation in keeping with the friendly ties.
On the issue of extradition of jailed Indian insurgent leader Anup Chetia, who served a jail-term after being arrested in Bangladesh in 1997, Singh said a judicial process was on in Bangladesh for the handover of the ULFA leader.
On Friday, Hussain had called on Indian home minister P Chidambaram and foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai. The Bangladesh-India Joint Working Group on Security also had a meeting the same day to prepare ground for the home secretary-level talks.
The Bangladesh side is likely to once again seek India's assistance in finding Abdul Majed and Moslehuddin, who were convicted of killing Banbabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman and his family in 1975, but have since been escaping the noose.
Chidambaram had said in Dhaka in July that the two fugitives could be in India and Indian government would take all possible steps to find them and hand over to the authorities in Bangladesh. The Indian home minister had made the remark after a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Shahara Khatun.
Sources said Bangladesh and India had on Friday exchanged lists of fugitives both suspect are hiding in each other's territory. Dhaka would particularly stress on cooperation with Indian agencies to find terrorists responsible for the 2004 grenade attack that had killed 24 people and left many injured.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was then leading the opposition, was among the injured and the dead included president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman.
Indian government officials said that the two home secretaries would review implementation of the agreements on Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and Combating International Terrorism, Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking, which were signed during Hasina's landmark visit to New Delhi in Jan 2010.
They would also discuss progress in implementation of the deal the two countries clinched to settle the land boundary disputes during Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September.
A senior official at the India's home ministry said Singh would flag New Delhi's concerns on links between extremist organisations of both the countries, as revealed by the arrest of the Kashmiri youth, who was studying in a medical college in Bangladesh, in connection with the Sept 7 blast in front of the Delhi High Court.
Following a tacit cooperation between the security agencies of Bangladesh and India, in 2009 and 2010, a number of top leaders of insurgent organisations active in northeastern Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur had landed in the custody of the law-enforcing agencies of India. New Delhi appreciated the cooperation from Dhaka in international forums.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Sep 24, Manmohan had termed the security cooperation between his country and Bangladesh as an example.
"In South Asia, there are encouraging signs of cooperation in the area of security, as exemplified in India's growing cooperation with Bangladesh. This cooperation is adding to the security of both our countries," he had said.
Home secretary Monzur Hussain and his Indian counterpart R K Singh on Saturday reviewed the progress on the negotiation for the proposed extradition treaty and are understood to have agreed to expedite the process to complete the legal framework for bilateral security cooperation.
Hussain and Singh are leading the delegations of Bangladesh and India, respectively, in the 12th round of home secretary-level parleys, which commenced in New Delhi on Saturday. Although two sides agreed to move faster on the proposed extradition treaty, reported excesses by the personnel of India's Border Security Force continued to be a sticky point.
Sources in Indian government said that Hussain drew Singh's attention to the latest incident of killing of a Bangladeshi citizen by the BSF soldiers at the borders.
Hussain is also understood to have reminded Singh that Indian home minister P Chidambaram had said in Dhaka last July that the BSF had been asked to exercise restraint.
A Bangladeshi citizen was shot dead by the BSF soldiers at Shingnogor adjoining the borders. The Border Guards Bangladesh sent a protest letter to the BSF.
The two-day talks between the home secretaries will conclude on Sunday.
An official statement from the India's ministry of home affairs said "security and border management, police-to-police co-operation in capacity building and training" were among the major issues on the agenda of the talks between Hussain and Singh.
After the first day's talks on Saturday, Hussain said the parleys were taking place in a very cordial atmosphere. Singh echoed him and added that both the countries would continue strengthening bilateral security co-operation in keeping with the friendly ties.
On the issue of extradition of jailed Indian insurgent leader Anup Chetia, who served a jail-term after being arrested in Bangladesh in 1997, Singh said a judicial process was on in Bangladesh for the handover of the ULFA leader.
On Friday, Hussain had called on Indian home minister P Chidambaram and foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai. The Bangladesh-India Joint Working Group on Security also had a meeting the same day to prepare ground for the home secretary-level talks.
The Bangladesh side is likely to once again seek India's assistance in finding Abdul Majed and Moslehuddin, who were convicted of killing Banbabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman and his family in 1975, but have since been escaping the noose.
Chidambaram had said in Dhaka in July that the two fugitives could be in India and Indian government would take all possible steps to find them and hand over to the authorities in Bangladesh. The Indian home minister had made the remark after a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Shahara Khatun.
Sources said Bangladesh and India had on Friday exchanged lists of fugitives both suspect are hiding in each other's territory. Dhaka would particularly stress on cooperation with Indian agencies to find terrorists responsible for the 2004 grenade attack that had killed 24 people and left many injured.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was then leading the opposition, was among the injured and the dead included president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman.
Indian government officials said that the two home secretaries would review implementation of the agreements on Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and Combating International Terrorism, Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking, which were signed during Hasina's landmark visit to New Delhi in Jan 2010.
They would also discuss progress in implementation of the deal the two countries clinched to settle the land boundary disputes during Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September.
A senior official at the India's home ministry said Singh would flag New Delhi's concerns on links between extremist organisations of both the countries, as revealed by the arrest of the Kashmiri youth, who was studying in a medical college in Bangladesh, in connection with the Sept 7 blast in front of the Delhi High Court.
Following a tacit cooperation between the security agencies of Bangladesh and India, in 2009 and 2010, a number of top leaders of insurgent organisations active in northeastern Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur had landed in the custody of the law-enforcing agencies of India. New Delhi appreciated the cooperation from Dhaka in international forums.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Sep 24, Manmohan had termed the security cooperation between his country and Bangladesh as an example.
"In South Asia, there are encouraging signs of cooperation in the area of security, as exemplified in India's growing cooperation with Bangladesh. This cooperation is adding to the security of both our countries," he had said.
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