New Delhi, May 7 — Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that comments by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman after the BJP’s victory in West Bengal should be viewed in the context of ongoing efforts to repatriate illegal Bangladeshi nationals from India.
At a press briefing, Jaiswal stressed that India requires Bangladesh’s cooperation to verify nationality in a large number of pending cases. “We have seen comments of this nature being made in the last several days. These comments must be seen in the context of the core issue of repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis from India. This obviously requires cooperation from Bangladesh,” he said, noting that over 2,860 nationality-verification cases are pending with Dhaka, several for more than five years.
Jaiswal reiterated India’s policy that any foreign national living illegally in the country must be repatriated in accordance with laws, procedures and bilateral mechanisms, and urged Bangladesh to expedite verification so repatriations can proceed smoothly.
His remarks followed Rahman’s comment that if there is a pushback after the new West Bengal government, appropriate action would be taken. They also came amid a recent diplomatic protest by Dhaka over statements attributed to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma about repatriations from Assam.
Bangladesh summoned acting Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pawan Badhe to the foreign ministry on Thursday to lodge a formal protest after Sarma posted on social media on April 26 that 20 foreign nationals arrested in Assam were “pushed back to Bangladesh.” Sarma wrote that tougher measures were needed against “infiltrators” who do not leave voluntarily. Bangladeshi officials called such public statements counterproductive and warned they could harm bilateral ties, urging avoidance of provocative remarks.
On river disputes, Jaiswal noted India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers and have established bilateral mechanisms that meet regularly to address water issues. He cited the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, which governs dry-season sharing at the Farakka Barrage, while acknowledging Dhaka’s complaints that India releases insufficient water during lean months—a problem Bangladesh says is aggravated by climate change and harms agriculture and livelihoods.
Discussions over the Teesta river remain unresolved. A 2011 proposal would have allocated 37.5% of Teesta waters to Bangladesh and 42.5% to India, but it was opposed by West Bengal and no final agreement was reached. An earlier ad-hoc 1983 arrangement envisaged 36% for Bangladesh, 39% for India and left 25% undecided; that arrangement was never fully implemented.
