Indian Minister Due Jan 28
Deal to ease visas likely
A liberalised visa agreement and an extradition treaty are likely to be signed between India and Bangladesh during Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's three-day visit to Dhaka, beginning January 28.
The new visa pact, named revised travel arrangement, will remove curbs on the visit of each other's businesspersons, senior citizens above 65 years of age and children below 12 years of age.
While the draft of the visa agreement has been approved by both the governments, the long-awaited extradition treaty was yet to be cleared by Indian Cabinet after its minor modification by Bangladesh government.
“We hope, both the treaties will be signed during the Indian home minister's visit to Bangladesh," an official of Indian home ministry said yesterday.
The extradition treaty, if signed, is expected to pave the way for deportation of jailed insurgents.
Similarly, it will help Dhaka in getting back its criminals who are currently lodged in Indian jails.
For the first time, India and Bangladesh are expected to exchange strip maps of their 4,096km long boundary to facilitate resolving boundary dispute locally.
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