Bangla Prez to visit India

In first-ever visit by any non- executive Head of State from Bangladesh, its President Mohammad Abdul Hamid will be arriving here on a two-day stay on December 18 and 19 during which he will put up at the President House here.
Hamid's visit comes in the backdrop of India making efforts to go ahead with Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh. During his recent visit to Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said his government will go ahead with the land-swap deal with Bangladesh for a permanent solution to the infiltration problem.
LBA implementation was agreed between previous UPA government and Bangladesh government headed by Prime Sheikh Hasina in 2011. Under the agreement the incongruous Indo-Bangladesh border will be redrawn and made much straighter with each country transferring area under adverse possession and exchange 161 enclaves.

Its basic purpose is to end the misery of an estimated 50,000 people who are entrapped in adverse possession areas and thus are deprived of development benefits and make the highly incongruous border straighter for better management.
Under LBA, India will transfer 111 enclaves (land with people belonging to Bangladesh but encircled by Indian territory) measuring 17, 160.63 acres to Bangladesh and will receive from Bangladesh 51 enclaves measuring 7, 110.2 acres.
In addition, India will acquire 2777.038 acres adverse possession areas and transfer 2267.682 acres adverse possession areas to Bangladesh.

The parliamentary standing committee on External Affairs had on Monday asked the government to pass, without any delay, a constitution amendment bill to give effect to LBA.

According to officials, Hamid would be the first non- executive Bangladesh Head of State to travel to India because in the past the Presidents who visited the country were having executive powers including Zillur Rahman.
During his stay here, Hamid will stay with President Pranab Mukherjee at the President's House, officials added.
Prime Minister Modi has been invited by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and officials are looking at a possibility of his visit sometime next year.