Modi plans ratifying LBA by year end

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to pass the long-pending constitution amendment bill to put into effect India's Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) in the month-long winter session of parliament beginning on November 24.

A decision to recommend passage of the bill on the LBA was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Monday.

The LBA bill is among the 30 legislations the Modi government hopes to pass in the winter session, CCPA sources said.

The LBA bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian parliament, in late 2012 and was referred to the Standing Committee headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was at that time the main opposition party, had opposed the bill citing reservations expressed by the party's Assam and West Bengal state units which feared loss of more territory to Bangladesh.

However, the Modi government earlier this month had initiated efforts to have the constitution amendment bill, aimed at implementing the land boundary agreement and exchange of enclaves with Bangladesh, passed in parliament.

At the first meeting of the parliamentary standing committee attached to the Ministry of External Affairs, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh explained in detail to lawmakers, drawn from the ruling BJP and opposition Congress among others, the land boundary agreement and issues relating to exchange of the 161 adversely-held enclaves.

Singh is understood to have conveyed at the meeting that the Modi government was keen to operationalise the LBA.

According to sources, the foreign secretary sought to address the concerns expressed by some quarters in Delhi about possible loss of territory for India in implementing the LBA and in exchange of enclaves.

Tharoor had told the standing  committee meeting that implementation of the LBA would not only               further strengthen India-Bangladesh relations but would constitute a              realistic measure to manage the porous border between the two countries.

The meeting discussed in detail the 119th constitution amendment bill placed in the Rajya Sabha last year to help operationalise the LBA.

Under Indian laws, the constitution needs to be amended as the LBA envisages exchange of land between the two countries. The bill has to be passed by two-thirds majority by Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha, the lower House of parliament.

 The LBA, the proposed Teesta river water-sharing deal and other bilateral issues had come up during Modi's first meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New York on September 27 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Modi had at that time reiterated India's commitment to implement the LBA.

During the nearly two-hour meeting of the standing committee, the members raised several questions relating to the LBA and exchange of enclaves.

Some BJP members of the standing committee wanted to know about the steps to be taken for the rehabilitation of those who want to leave the enclaves in Bangladesh and cross over to enclaves in West Bengal following the implementation of the LBA. They sought a clear-cut policy for their rehabilitation. The West Bengal government has already demanded that federal Indian government meets the funds for the rehabilitation and compensation package.

It is mentionable that the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has consistently opposed signing of the Teesta deal and had in the                past voiced reservations against the LBA.

Although India and Bangladesh signed the LBA way back in 1974, an additional protocol was inked in September, 2011 during the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka.