At long last

THE unanimous passage of the Land Boundary Agreement Bill in both the Houses of the Indian Parliament is a historic development. It is matter of great satisfaction that at long last the Mujib-Indira Agreement of 1974 is on the way to full operationalization. The deal will end the misery of several thousand people who can now claim to belong to either of the countries – a status that they had been deprived of for the last 68 years. 

It would be misplaced to see the issue in terms of 'gains' or 'loss' of land. The very underlying humanitarian problem that has been associated with the issue needed to be addressed, and that has been done.  

This was one of the issues that had defied full implementation although Bangladesh lost no time in ratifying the deal and implementing its part of the 1974 Agreement. The Indian government and Prime Minister Modi deserve our thanks for having resolved the matter despite some recent misgivings. At the end local politics in India had to yield to reason and principles. 

We reiterate what we had said very recently in these columns - the important thing is to implement quickly the provisions of the agreement and the associated protocols to give effect to the LBA. And we are sure that the two countries would move swiftly in this regard. 

A new momentum in Bangladesh-India relations has been set in motion with the passage of the Bill in the Indian Lok Sabha, and we hope that the other issue that has resisted resolution so far – Teesta water sharing – would be addressed in the same manner by the Indian government and resolved very soon.