File photo of Bangladesh President Mohammad Abdul Hamid. (Agence France- Presse)
With the India-Bangladesh land swap agreement appearing poised to be implemented, Bangladesh President Mohammad Abdul Hamid will be paying a ceremonial visit to India on December 18 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.
According to Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali, the President would be coming to India on December 18 and preparations were on in full swing for the visit.
"The President is visiting as he was invited by President Mukherjee to visit India," the high commissioner told IANS.
The presidential visit would be ceremonial and comes as the Narendra Modi Government has indicated its willingness to pass the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) for swap of enclaves in each others' possession.
The LBA has been hanging fire since former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the agreement with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2011.
The erstwhile United Progressive Alliance government had been very keen to pass the Constitutional Amendment Bill for implementing the LBA but the then opposition, especially the BJP, did not allow it.
On December 1, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs tabled its "unanimous" report in both houses of parliament on the 119th Amendment Act, which dealt with the land swap, and asked the government to go ahead with the swap.
Under the swap, India will exchange 111 enclaves measuring 17,160 acres with Bangladesh and receive 51 enclaves covering 7,110 acres.
Almost 51,000 people reside in these enclaves. The territories involved in the exchange are in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura.