India today said it hopes to "quickly activate" the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh under which it will give over 17,000 acre of land as against about 7,000 acre by that country.
In last few years, the two countries have achieved a "great deal" in most of the spheres, be it political, security or economic and "whether it is land boundary issue, which we hope to do very quickly," a top government official said.
There are 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in Indian territory while 111 Indian enclaves are in Bangladesh.
The text for the constitutional amendment to the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement (LBA) was cleared by the Union Cabinet on February 13 and same will be placed in Parliament in the second part of the budget session, officials said. The move comes amidst indications that BJP will not oppose it in Parliament.
The development, seen as a step forward given that UPA government has been struggling to implement the pact with Bangladesh, will help in resolving one of the most contentious and long-festering sborder problems India has with its neighbours.
While Bangladesh parliament has passed the 1974 Indira-Mujib land boundary agreement, Indian Parliament is yet to do so. The two countries had signed another protocol during Prime Minister's visit to Dhaka in September, 2011 to help implement the 1974 accord.
UPA needs the support of two-thirds majority in Parliament to pass the LBA with the help of constitution amendment, which the ruling coalition lacks.
BJP had earlier opposed the LBA saying it will result in more loss of land to India than Bangladesh. BJP chief Rajnath Singh had in February said that UPA cannot count on his party's backing to pass the constitution amendment.
The sources also described the current situation in Bangladesh as "very complex" which was not "left right, black and white".
Noting that India has interest in what was happening in Bangladesh, New Delhi feels the developments in that country was totally their internal matter which has to be sorted out by them.