India, Bangladesh agree to restore status quo

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 19. In a bid to prevent the boundary clash from damaging irreparably their friendly ties, India and Bangladesh quickly restored the status quo on their border.

Responding to questions on the firing incident which led to the death of over 10 Border Security Force (BSF) jawans as well the takeover of Pyrdiwah village by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry said, ``It has been agreed that the status quo ante on the border would be restored.'' He added that ``action on the ground was under way to meet this objective''.

According to the Home Secretary, Mr. Kamal Pande, who also briefed the press, the BDR had vacated Pyrdiwah. Firing in Boriabari area of Assam had also ceased since afternoon.

The decision to halt firing was taken at a flag meeting between local BSF and BDR commanders in the Boriabari area. The BDR Director-General, Maj. Gen. Fazlur Rahman, who spoke twice over telephone with his BSF counterpart, Mr. Gurbachan Jagat, expressed regret over the incident.

According to Mr. Pande, Maj. Gen. Rahman informed that arrangements were being made to return the injured personnel, who were now in the custody of Bangladesh, as also the bodies of 11 of those killed.

On whether the firing was carried out without Dhaka's consent, the spokesman declined to comment on what he described as the ``internal affair of a friendly country.'' He also parried questions on whether the Bangladesh side had offered an apology for its ``unprovoked'' and ``unilateral'' actions.

The agreement, thrashed out after talks involving the Indian High Commissioner and the Bangladeshi authorities, the Bangladesh High Commissioner, the Ministry of External Affairs and the BSF and BDR heads, covered two other aspects. Both sides agreed that their border personnel should exercise ``utmost restraint'' to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. Also, it was emphasised that instead of using force, the existing ``institutions and mechanisms'' should be exercised ``in a spirit of mutual co- operation''. This was necessary for resolving all ``residual issues'' related to the border.

Sources pointed out that a regular dialogue between officials of the two countries from the Home and External Affairs Ministries and paramilitary forces was well institutionalised.

In fact, the BSF and BDR heads, at their meeting which concluded on April 1, had agreed to exercise maximum restraint along the border. They also agreed to draw an interim boundary in the disputed Muhuri Char sector. The Foreign Secretaries had earlier decided to establish a Joint Working Group at the Home Ministry- level to demarcate a controversial six km-stretch of the border.

`BDR action unacceptable'

Earlier during the day, the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, termed the BDR action as ``unacceptable.'' Responding to concerns by members in the Rajya Sabha, he said the situation along the Assam-Meghalaya-Bangladesh border was ``worrying'', though the Government was ``seized of it''. The Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Manmohan Singh, described the incident as a ``most unfortunate development''.

To clarifications sought by Mr. Dipankar Mukherjee (CPI-M) and Mr. Swaraj Kaushal (Haryana Vikas Party), Mr. Jaswant Singh denied that the incident was a manifestation of ``intelligence failure''. Mr. Sanjay Nirupam (Shiv Sena) demanded a statement from the Government and a discussion on the incident.

Haroon Habib writes from Dhaka:

The exchange of fire came to a halt at 3 p.m. today at Roumari under Kurigram region of northern Bangladesh, bordering Mankerchar town of Assam. BSF and BDR personnel had exchanged heavy fire for the second consecutive day today.

The situation along the border near Roumari and Padua in Sylhet, bordering Meghalaya, was now tension-free and peaceful as the two sided had decided to resolve their dispute amicably and through dialogue, the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, Syed Muazzem Ali, told presspersons this afternoon.

Flag meeting held

After the day-long parleys, the two sides decided to hold flag meetings; the first took place at Padua today. The flag meeting at Roumari could not be held due to the heavy rain, Mr. Ali said, admitting that there were intermittent exchanges of fire late in the day. There had been direct contacts between the chiefs of BDR and BSF over phone, who instructed their respective field level commanders to stop firing. While there was some exchange of fire near Roumari in the morning for about an hour, things were quiet at Padua, the disputed village which was claimed to have taken over by BDR.

Mr. Ali said that as per their agreement, the BDR would hand over the bodies of 11 BSF men when the Sector Commanders arrive at the flag meeting tomorrow. Two injured BSF men would also be handed over.

Sources here said that Indian officials had met the injured men in hospital.

The Foreign Secretary, while expressing optimism of strengthening the existing cordial and friendly relations, said, ``It has been a great success'' for both countries to agree to sit within 24 hours for dialogue to resolve the issues. ``It is a clear signal of cordial and cooperative relations that exist between the two countries,'' he said, adding, ``it confirms that the institutional mechanism that the two neighbours have are fully functional''.

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