India, Bangladesh signed Land Boundary Agreement of

1974
According to the agreement, Bangladesh took over 111 enclaves (17160 acres of land) from Indias
possession and India received 51 enclaves (7110 acres of land) from Bangladesh. Enclaves are tiny
landlocked territories that each country has within the borders of the other nation. The enclaves in
Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya come under the bills ambit.
The protocol and instruments of ratification to make the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA)
operational was signed by the foreign secretaries of the two nations in presence of Narendra Modi,
the visiting Prime Minister and his Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Effects of the Land Boundary Agreement
It will allow over 50000 stateless people living in these enclaves to gain a national identity after four
decades of stateless limbo, as now they will be allowed to live in India or Bangladesh with the option
of being granted citizenship in the newly designated territories
The enclaves would cease to exist
It will help India to fence its borders with Bangladesh
It will change the physical map of India and Bangladesh
Comment
This LBA between India and Bangladesh may be helpful in improving Indias border disputes with
neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China.
It may also help in solving the dispute of water sharing from Teesta and Feni Rivers which flow
through both nations, which was not resolved during this visit of Modi to Bangladesh.
Background
Earlier on 28 May 2015, the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) Bill, 2013 between India and
Bangladesh received the assent of President Pranab Mukherjee. The bill also known as the 119th
Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was passed by both houses of Parliament in May 2015.
After Presidents assent the bill entered in to the statue book as Constitution 100th Amendment Act
2015.
The first pillar of this bill was put by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 6 September 2011,
the year when the two countries inked a historic protocol on land boundary agreement following the
talks between Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in
Dhaka.