The home secretary level meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) comprising Bangladesh and India on border security and cooperation issues is likely to be held on July 18 and 19 in India.
A high-level delegation from Bangladesh led by CQK Mustaq Ahmed, senior secretary of the home ministry, is going to India to attend the meeting.
“The number and the members of the delegation will be finalised after the prime minister’s return from abroad,” Dr Kamaluddin Ahmed, additional secretary of the home ministry, said on Tuesday.
The 13th and previous meeting of the JWG led by the home secretaries of India and Bangladesh was held on 16-17 October last year in Dhaka.
Kamaluddin Ahmed said the JWG meeting will be held in various categories. The chiefs of the agencies concerned and officials of the home ministries will meet separately before the meeting starts.
Decisions on every issue will be made at the main meeting under the leadership of the home secretaries.
“The issues of border crisis, security measures and cooperation will come up at the meeting. Human trafficking, border killing, and smuggling of cattle, drug and several other goods will be discussed in the category of border issue,” he added.
Meanwhile, the exchange of prisoners, preventing terrorism and militancy will be discussed under the category of security issues. The issue of repatriating ULFA leader Anup Chetia might be discussed at the meeting.
When asked about the repatriation rumour of Chetia, the additional secretary said: “This is absolutely a rumour. We have yet to make any decision on the deportation of the ULFA leader who has been in Bangladeshi jail for the last 15 years."
"But a decision may come from the next meeting of the JWG in India," he added. Meanwhile, a home ministry official said the ministry is likely to begin work on Anup Chetia’s repatriation within a week or two as he himself wanted to return to India.
During the last meeting in Dhaka, both sides expressed satisfaction at the smooth operation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan and agreed to increase patrolling to curb criminal activities along the border.
They also noted with satisfaction that the implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan had reduced the number of incidents along the border.
The Indian home secretary conveyed the Indian government's appreciation to the Bangladesh government for extending cooperation in addressing the security concerns of India, particularly in dealing with the Indian insurgent groups.
Both sides agreed to extend cooperation for the apprehension of wanted criminals and fugitives.