India seeks Bangladesh cooperation in repatriating illegal migrants

India urged Bangladesh to expedite nationality verification of its citizens living illegally in India to facilitate smoother repatriation under bilateral arrangements

India on Thursday sought cooperation from the Bangladesh government to expedite nationality verification of its citizens living illegally in India so that repatriation of these illegal immigrants can take place smoothly.

 

Bangladesh’s new government, led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, has formally sought China’s involvement and support for the Teesta River restoration project. New Delhi, however, maintains that discussions between India and Bangladesh on the 54 rivers shared by the two countries are bilateral in nature.

 

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said at his weekly media briefing that India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers and have a structured bilateral mechanism to discuss all water-related issues, which continues to meet at regular intervals.

 

 

On the issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh to India and Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in India, Jaiswal said the matter requires cooperation from Bangladesh. “Over 2,862 cases of nationality verification are pending with Bangladesh, some for over five years,” the MEA spokesperson said. “Our policy is that all illegal foreign nationals staying in India must be repatriated as per our laws, procedures and established bilateral arrangements,” Jaiswal said.

 

Recently, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media that 20 foreign nationals were apprehended in Assam and pushed back to Bangladesh on April 26, 2026. While Sarma did not elaborate on the location where these illegal immigrants were apprehended, he said, “Assam will fight, pushbacks will continue”.

 

After the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) wins in Assam and West Bengal in the recently concluded Assembly polls, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman was asked about reports of a “push-in” by Indian border guards of individuals into Bangladesh. The Bangladesh foreign minister said, “When the Chief Minister of Assam said similar things and admitted he had taken certain actions, you saw that we strongly protested. We will take whatever measures are necessary on that issue.”

 

Rahman met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, where the two also discussed water sharing of the Teesta River, which flows from the eastern Himalayas through Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh.

 

Expressing support for the new Bangladesh government, Wang was quoted by Bangladesh’s official news agency as saying that China is ready to promote alignment of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with Bangladesh’s national development strategies and deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as economy, infrastructure and people-to-people exchanges, among others. The Chinese government will also encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Bangladesh, he said. Last month, Rahman was in India.