NEW DELHI: Days after Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, the Government of India (GOI) on Thursday asked Bangladesh to expedite the nationality verification process pending for years to ensure smooth repatriation of illegal immigrants.
Responding to Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman’s remarks on alleged incidents of India’s BSF pushing back illegal immigrants across the Bangladeshi border, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the comments must be seen in the context of the core issue – the repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis from India.
Following BJP’s victory in West Bengal polls, Rahman had said that Bangladesh would take action if such pushback incidents occurred under the changed political circumstances.
The MEA Spokesperson noted that repatriation of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants would require cooperation from Dhaka.
He further urged the Bangladeshi government to expedite the process of nationality verification, citing over 2,800 cases that remain pending for years.
“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 the repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis from India. This obviously requires cooperation from Bangladesh. Over 2,860 cases of nationality verification are pending with Bangladesh, and several of them have been pending for over five years…” Jaiswal said.
He further added, “We expect that Bangladesh will expedite nationality verification so that the repatriation of illegal immigrants can take place in a smooth manner.”
The development comes just three days after the BJP registered a landslide victory in West Bengal Assembly elections, winning 207 seats in the 294-member House.
The issue of illegal infiltration was among the key poll planks of the BJP in Bengal. The saffron party had vowed to stop the infiltration by ensuring fencing of the Bangladeshi border in West Bengal.
The party had also promised to identify illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state and deport them back to their country.
Agencies