| Bangladesh–India border | |
| Territory2: | |
| Established: | 17 August 1947 |
| Current: | 7 May 2015 |
| Currentreason: | Exchange of enclaves, simplification of land boundaries |
The Bangladesh–India border, known locally as the Radcliffe line (IB), is an international border running between the republics of Bangladesh and India that demarcates the six divisions of Bangladesh and the Indian states.
Bangladesh and India share a 4096adj=midNaNadj=mid international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, including in Assam, in Tripura, in Mizoram, in Meghalaya, and in West Bengal.[1] The Bangladeshi divisions of Mymensingh, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet, and Chittagong are situated along the border. A number of pillars mark the border between the two states. Small demarcated portions of the border are fenced on both sides.
The Radcliffe Line was published on 17 August 1947 as a boundary demarcation line between the dominions of India and Pakistan upon the partition of India. It was named after its architect, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who, as chairman of the Border Commissions, was charged with equitably dividing 175000sqmi of territory with 88 million people based on religious lines.[2] This involved the partition of the Bengal region, which resulted in transferring East Bengal to Pakistan,[3] which was later liberated in 1971, thereby Bangladesh continuing to share the same line as the border with the Indian Republic.
See also: Deaths along the Bangladesh–India border, 2001 Bangladesh–India border clashes and Bangladesh–India relations. The border is used as a route for smuggling livestock, food items, medicines, and drugs from India to Bangladesh. Moreover, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh cross the border to India. Because of a large number of illegal immigrants crossing from Bangladesh into India, a controversial shoot-on-sight policy has been enforced by the Indian border patrols.[4] [5] [6] This policy was initiated with reports of violence between the illegal migrants and Indian soldiers.[7] The border has also witnessed occasional skirmishes between the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), most notably in 2001.
In July 2009, Channel 4 News reported that hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis were killed by the BSF along the Indo-Bangladeshi border fence during its construction. The BSF state that the fence's main purpose is to check illegal immigration and to prevent cross-border terrorism.[8] In 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued an 81-page report which documented a number abuses committed by the BSF. The report was compiled from the interviews of abuse victims, witnesses, members of the BSF, and its Bangladeshi counterpart, the BGB. The report stated that over 900 Bangladeshi citizens were killed during the first decade of the 21st century, many of whom crossed the border for cattle rustling or other smuggling activities. However, the report also noted that some were killed due to "indiscriminate firing from across the border". The HRW called for a joint independent investigation to be conducted by both governments.[9]
The Bangladeshi government has often accused the BSF of incursions into Bangladeshi territory, and indiscriminate shooting of civilians along the India–Bangladesh border. In a news conference in August 2008, Indian BSF officials admitted that they killed 59 illegals (34 Bangladeshis, 21 Indians, 4 unidentified) who were trying to cross the border during the prior six months.[10] Bangladeshi media accused the BSF of abducting 5 Bangladeshi children, aged between 8 and 15, from the Haripur Upazila in Thakurgaon District of Bangladesh, in 2010. The children were setting fishing nets near the border.[11] In 2010, Human Rights Watch accused the Border Security Force of the indiscriminate killings. On 7 January 2011, BSF forces killed 15-year-old Felani Khatun after she became tangled while climbing the border fence during a return trip to Bangladesh. Her body was left hanging from the fence where it was photographed, drawing widespread outrage.[12]
In 2019, Bangladesh border guards shot at BSF personnel. They claimed self defence. One BSF officer was killed.[13]
The breakdown of the length of land border by Indian states is as follows, clockwise:[14]
See main article: India–Bangladesh enclaves. There were nearly 200 enclaves and counter-enclaves that existed on both sides of the border up until 2015. The enclaves or chitmahals (Bengali: ছিটমহল) that ran along the border between the two nations were a longstanding feature of the region. The enclaves were reputedly part of a high-stakes card game or chess games centuries ago between two regional kings, the Raja of Cooch Behar and the Maharaja of Rangpur, and the result of the confused outcome of a treaty between the Kingdom of Koch Bihar and the Mughal Empire. After the partition of India in 1947, Cooch Behar district merged with India and Rangpur went to then-East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1971.
The prime ministers of India and Bangladesh signed a Land Boundary Agreement in 1974 to exchange all enclaves and simplify the international border. In 1974 Bangladesh approved the proposed Land Boundary Agreement, but India did not ratify it. In 2011 the two countries again agreed to exchange enclaves and adverse possessions. A revised version of the agreement was finally adopted by the two countries when the Parliament of India passed the 119th Amendment to the Indian Constitution on 7 May 2015.[15]
Inside the main part of Bangladesh, there were 111 Indian enclaves (17,160.63 acres), while inside the main part of India, there were 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,110.02 acres). Under the Land Boundary Agreement, the enclave residents could continue to reside at their present location or move to the country of their choice.[16] [17] The adverse possession of Boraibari went to Bangladesh.[18] The undemarcated borders between the nations were also finally solved with respect to Daikhata-Dumabari, Muhurichar (an island in the Muhuri River),[19] and Pyrdiwah.[20] [21] [22]
See also: Exclusive economic zone of India.
India and Bangladesh, with different perceptions of their maritime boundaries and exclusive economic zone, engaged in eight rounds of bilateral negotiations since 1974, which remained inconclusive until 2009 when both agreed to undergo arbitration under the UNCLOS. On 7 July 2014, Arbitration Tribunal resolved the dispute in Bangladesh's favor, which was amicably accepted by both sides, thus ending the dispute.[23] Dispute also included South Talpatti (also called "New Moore"), a small uninhabited offshore sandbar that emerged as an Island in the aftermath of the Bhola cyclone in 1970, and disappeared around March 2010.[24] [25]
See main article: Transport between India and Bangladesh and Borders of India.
Designated Integrated Check Posts (ICP, with both customs and immigration facilities) and Land Customs Stations (LCS) are:[26]
Transport between India and Bangladesh bears much historical and political significance for both countries, which possessed no ground transport links for 43 years, starting with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947. After the establishment of Bangladesh following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, bilateral relations improved considerably, but the two governments moved slowly on implementing a 1980 agreement on improving transport links.[28]
The Kolkata–Dhaka Bus started in 1999.[29] In 2001, another bus service was launched to connect Dhaka with Agartala, the capital of the Indian state of Tripura, the second-largest city of Northeast India that borders Bangladesh in the east. In 2015 June direct bus service from Kolkata to Agartala via, Petrapole, Dhaka, Akhoura began. The service is operated by West Bengal surface transport corporation.
Before partition India and Bangladesh had multiple rail links. In the 21st century, the countries are only connected by rail links on the Western Bangladeshi border, although there are plans to rebuild some of the other rail links. 2 scheduled passenger trains run between Kolkata and Bangladesh as the Maitree Express and the Bandhan Express. One train Mitali Express runs between and of North Bengal.
Out of 4096.7km (2,545.6miles), which is the total length of International Border with Bangladesh, the Government of India initially sanctioned 3406km (2,116miles) of fencing along Indo-Bangladesh border. By November 2007, of fencing was completed and the project was likely to completed by 2008–09.[30] By October 2009, about of fencing was completed and the deadline for project completion was revised to March 2010.[31] By March 2011, of fencing was completed and the deadline was further revised to March 2012.[32]
As per the press release from the Government of India, the sanctioned length of the fence along Indo-Bangladesh Border was 3326.14km (2,066.77miles) while was completed by February 2018. By July 2019, of fencing was completed. And by August 2021, of fencing was completed. Fencing along remaining feasible stretches is yet to completed.[33] [34] [35]
Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.[36] [37] Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), formerly known as the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), is a paramilitary force responsible for the security of Bangladesh's long border with India and Myanmar.[38] [39] [40] [41]
