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Bangladesh indicated it would be in a position to hold official-level talks with India on the vexed issue of border demarcation in Delhi sometime later this month.
The official news agency BSS quoted Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad as saying Bangladesh shares India's perception that official-level talks should be held urgently to resolve the pending issues on the border.
Azad, who was speaking after a high-level inter-ministerial meeting on the border-related issues, said the date for the talks would be finalised by foreign ministries of the two countries.
Azad had said a couple of days back that Joint Working Groups of the two countries addressing the border-related issues would start functioning soon.
The first high level inter-ministerial meeting on border issues after the two sides agreed to resolve the problem through discussion was chaired by Azad and attended by Law Minister Abdul Matin Khosru and State Minister for Land Rashed Mosharaf. Secretaries of the home, foreign and land ministries were present at the meeting which lasted for nearly two hours.
The initiative followed telephonic talk between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina in the wake of last month's border skirmishes.
Besides the date for the talks, both the composition of the delegation and who will lead it is yet to be finalised. The ministries of foreign, home, land, law and water resources are expected to be included in the delegation.
Another high-level inter-ministerial meeting would be held before the officials go to Delhi, a high official of the foreign ministry said.
PTI
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