Rajnath leaves for 3-day Bangladesh visit; to discuss various bilateral issues

Home Minister Rajnath Singh today left for Bangladesh for a three-day visit during which he will hold discussions on various issues, including anti-terror cooperation and influx of Rohingya refugees, officials said today.

The Home minister will also meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discuss various bilateral issues.

"The relationship between India and Bangladesh is anchored in history, culture, language and shared values of democracy. India attaches great significance to ties with Bangladesh," Singh tweeted before embarking on the visit.

The Home minister said India and Bangladesh have made notable progress in transforming land and maritime boundaries into zones of peace and tranquillity.

"Looking forward to strengthen the bilateral relations between both the countries on the basis of friendship and trust," he said in another tweet.

In his meeting with Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Singh will discuss ways to strengthen the anti-terror mechanism between the two countries and check radicalisation of youths by terrorist groups, a Home Ministry official said.

The Rohingya issue is also likely to figure in the meeting.

Singh is accompanied by top officials of the Home Ministry and security agencies.

The delegation will discuss the steps to be taken to strengthen the existing mechanism to check movement of illegal immigrants and smuggling of cattle, arms and ammunition, narcotics and other items through the porous Indo-Bangla border.

The Indian side is expected to take up the issue of the continuous inflow of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) from across the border and the attacks on BSF personnel by criminals based in Bangladesh.

FICN with face value of about Rs 13.66 lakh have been seized along the border till March this year, another official said, adding that fake notes with face value of more than Rs 68.96 lakh were confiscated last year.

The attacks on BSF personnel by criminals based in Bangladesh is expected to be flagged by the Indian side during delegation-level talks.

Two BSF men were killed and 122 injured in criminal attacks on this frontier last year, and as many as 109 personnel were injured in 2016, the official said.

The Bangladesh side is expected to raise the issue of their nationals being killed or injured in BSF firing along the border and the illegal transport of drugs into their territory from the Indian side.

India shares a 4,096-km-long border with Bangladesh.