Immigration

The local labour force is streaming out of the region looking for jobs in peninsular India, creating a vacuum that makes it easier for the Bangladeshis to fill in, says R N Ravi. C ontrary to the state government’s lore -- that the unregulated influx of Bangladeshis in Assam is a thing of the past -- a recent field research by the writer shows that it is a live and kicking phenomenon. More and more Bangladeshis are filling the expanding labour and low-end services sectors in Assam and its neighbouring states in the northeast. Mutation of once visceral existential fears over the unregulated migration of Bangladeshi nationals into an inexorable fatalism has been one of the striking characteristics of contemporary socio-political landscape of Assam. The issue that has seismic implications for national security, the future of Assam and its neighbours and which had once erupted into the historic Assam agitation (between 1979 and 1985) seems to be mourning at the margin today. ... » Learn More about We are in denial, but Bangladeshis are still flooding India’s northeast

India's progress is linked to that of all its neighbours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as he along with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina inaugurated Petrapole-Benapole land port which will serve as a key trade route between the two countries. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurate the Petrapole Integrated Check Post through video-conferencing, in New Delhi. Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj is also seen. Photograph: PIB Addressing via video conferencing the event which was also joined by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said Integrated Check Post will serve to foster more economic integration and connectivity between India and Bangladesh. Underlining that economic development and connectivity are very closely linked to each other, Modi said, "India's progress is linked to progress of all its neighbours." He said inauguration of the "biggest ... » Learn More about Don’t consider yourself alone in fight against terror: PM tells Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done the seemingly impossible by finalising the long-pending Land Boundary Agreement ahead of his Bangladesh visit, writes Prakash Bhandari. T he ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement between Bangladesh and India by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet without any hassle would ensure that the Bangladesh parliament  would also greenlight the proposal for its implementation. The LBA, also referred to as the Indira-Mujib agreement, was signed in May 1974 for exchanging enclaves between the two countries. The Bangladesh parliament had ratified the agreement, but it was not done by India. But now, since both houses of Parliament have passed the bill, it would go to the state assemblies -- Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal -- for formal approvals. The assassination of former Bangladesh president Mujibur Rahman in August 1975 -- by which time India had already been brought under Emergency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi -- ... » Learn More about Deal on enclaves marks a new beginning for India-Bangladesh ties