Home Minister P. Chidambaram will travel to Dhaka on July 29 to finalise an agreement relating to boundary demarcation and enclaves adversely held by the two countries.
During his 24-hour stay in Dhaka, Mr. Chidambaram will meet his Bangladeshi counterpart Sahara Khatun on Saturday and is expected to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leader of opposition Khaleda Zia and other leaders.
The two countries had last week concluded a joint headcount in 162 enclaves on both sides of their borders.
The enclaves, or areas locked by territories belonging to the other side, have been an unresolved border issue between the two countries since the partition of the subcontinent, causing untold difficulties to the people there in matters of connectivity, power and education.
Bangladesh and India share 4,096 KM border, of which 6.1 kilometres is still not demarcated and a deal on this too is expected to be given finishing touches during the Home Minister’s visit to Dhaka.
The two countries have 162 such enclaves — 111 of them Indian territories inside Bangladesh.
The Joint Boundary Working Group meeting between the two sides and subsequent Home Secretary-level talks earlier this year had decided to expedite the process of exchanging the enclaves under a 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Bangladesh in September.
