Kolkata mission asked for more info on push-in

The government is yet to confirm the reported push-in of 76 Muslims to Bangladesh territory by the Indian authorities but has asked the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and deputy high commission in Kolkata to look into the matter and send details.

"We've only seen the newspaper reports. We have instructed the BDR and our deputy high commission in Kolkata to furnish us with more details," Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told a weekly briefing at the foreign ministry yesterday.

However, such a push-in is not "acceptable to us", he said.

The matter was raised with an Indian delegation now in Dhaka for the India-Bangladesh joint working group meeting on border, he said. "The Indian team has been requested to make an inquiry about the report."

Reports have it that the Indian Border Security Force pushed 76 Indian Muslims into Bangladesh territory through Sharsha border in Jessore on Wednesday.

Asked what sort of relationship Dhaka and New Delhi is going through at present, the foreign secretary said, "Our relation is normal. Even differences on different issues is part of normal relations between neighbouring countries."

"We want constant dialogue to resolve all the problems with India and want to address all issues within the framework of discussions."

Commenting on the just ended joint expert committee meeting on sharing of waters of the common rivers, Chowdhury said there was "some progress".

He did not agree with the view that the meeting ended in failure. "One or two meetings are not enough to reach a formal agreement on sharing of water of common rivers."

Asked whether Senator Hillary Clinton would lead the planned demonstration of Bangladeshis in New York, he said the report is not true.

The foreign secretary said Vietnam has opened its embassy in Dhaka and its charge d'affaires will soon present his credentials.